Set on an imaginary remote island off the west coast of Ireland, The Banshees of Inisherin examines a heartbreak unlike any you would regularly see on screen – the kind that comes when you separate from a friend.
Starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as directed and written by Martin McDonagh, the film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September this year.
The film already won Best Screenplay at the festival, and Farrell won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. McDonagh had previously paired the two actors together for his award-winning In Bruges.
The story follows Padraic (Farrell) who is devastated when Colm (Gleeson) decides he no longer wants to be friends with him for no apparent reason. When asked why, Colm’s only reasoning is “I just don’t like you anymore”.
After being life-long best friends, this sets off a crisis of self-worth and distress that leads to some of the funniest as well as the most tear-jerking moments in the movie.
Filmed on Inis Mór and Achill Island, the movie also shows off some of Ireland’s most breathtaking landscapes.
The story is set during the Irish Civil War, which works to reflect the themes that run through the movie: the futility of the male ego and aggression.
McDonagh also says he tried to fill the friends’ break up “with all of the sadness of the breakup of a love relationship”.
The movie takes the straightforward subject of no longer being friends and paints it with humour, sadness and complexity that isn’t often seen.
This is perhaps why the film has been branded as “deceptively simple”. Farrell and Gleeson were spotted arriving at the premiere of the movie at the Lighthouse Cinema last week.
The Banshees of Inisherin is set to be released on Friday October 21st nationwide in cinemas.
