What to Watch Verdict

The Banshees of Inisherin uses black comedy and a historical parable to create a darkly funny and provoking tale.

Pros

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Multiple of laugh-out-loud moments
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Farrell, Gleeson and Condon are phenomenal
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McDonagh's razor sharp script is equal measures funny and deep

Cons

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US audiences may need a minute to catch up to Irish dialect

Fourteen years ago, the trio of Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and writer/director Martin McDonagh made a splash with the brilliant In Bruges. Well, with the team reuniting for The Banshees of Inisherin, consider them two for two. Banshees is a darkly funny and provoking tale that is certainly one of the best movies of the year.

Set in the 1920s on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, Pádraic (Farrell) finds his simple life turned upside down when his best friend Colm (Gleeson) out of the blue decides he no longer wants to be bothered, as he says, by Pádraic, ending their friendship.

This is the first movie that McDonagh, whose past credits include In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, has set in his native Ireland (though he previously wrote plays that take place on the Emerald Isle). For the occasion, he reaches back to history, using this story as a parable for the Irish Civil War that took place between the Provisional Government and the Irish Republic Army between 1922 and 1923. We won’t go into too much more detail as the movie does a better job depicting the deeper meanings and connections than we probably could.

When you think of a dark comedy, you may think the laughs are more subdued as a result of the tone, but The Banshees of Inisherin has its fair share of laugh-out-loud moments. If you’ll forgive us for the possibly obvious comparison, the humor of Banshees is reminiscent of a pint of Guinness — it has all the looks of a dark beer, but it goes down smooth and easy. Though it may not seem like it at first glance, The Banshees of Inisherin is probably one of the funniest movies you’ll see all year.

Helping to make that the case is the lead performance of Colin Farrell. After delighting in similar dark comedy grounds with In Bruges and 2015’s The Lobster, Farrell's performance as the sweet and dim-witted Pádraic continues to show he is a master of this type of material. The end-of-year awards should come calling as the actor seems ripe for his first-ever Oscar nomination.

The same can be said for the other half of the bickering friends, Brendan Gleeson. While not given the same opportunities to generate laughs, Gleeson gives his Colm an incredible empathy even as he proves to be incredibly stubborn (to an incredible degree) as the instigator of this break-up.

Kerry Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin (Image credit: Jonathan Hession/Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

However, perhaps the standout of Banshees is the performance of Kerry Condon (Better Call Saul, Rome). Condon is a revelation as Pádraic’s sister Siobhan, perhaps the only person on the entire island with her head on straight. She steals just about every scene that she is in — no small feat when Farrell and Gleeson are on their A-games.

We’d be remiss not to mention another strong outing from Barry Keoghan and a wickedly delightful role from Sheila Flitton. Overall, the entire ensemble of Banshees is a joy to watch.

Behind the camera, while McDonagh may not be the flashiest director out there, you know when you’re watching one of his films for its sharp wit featuring another brilliantly written script and the incredible, pitch perfect tone he sets throughout the movie. Credit also to cinematographer Ben Davis who beautifully captured the Irish Isles where The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed for the big screen and composer Carter Burwell, who continues to prove he’s one of the best in the game with a haunting score.

The only tiny quibble that we can throw at the movie is that it might take a bit to understand all of what is being said between the Irish brogues and early 20th century vocabulary (at least for audiences outside Ireland and the UK), but you’ll soon catch up and be enthralled by the story being told.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a must-see movie with some of the best performances of the year, a director executing his message to near perfection and a surprising amount of laughs. Personally, can’t wait to see it again.

Watch The Banshees of Inisherin right now in the UK and in select US theaters; expands everywhere in the US November 4.

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.