Two lifelong friends are at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.
The limits of human tolerance, the placative nature of ‘just nice,’ and some deeply messed up men are at the center of Martin McDonagh’s newest film, “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Par for the McDonagh course, only this time he’s teamed up with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, reuniting the triumvirate for the first time since their legendary “In Bruges.” This time McDonagh brings along cast members Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon to round out an otherwise prolific duo. While McDonagh’s known for his intricate character studies mixed with violence, this movie feels remarkably tame, much to his success. “The Banshees of Inisherin” is a contained character drama with so little bloodletting we’re gifted a quiet look into a friend’s falling out and what drives dull men.
In “Banshees,” two best friends have a falling out one day when one decides he’s done with the other. What follows is the two men dragging each other down. There will be chopped fingers, burned houses, and plenty of beer. McDonagh does an incredible job lining up all his characters. His background in theater writing has always propelled him to take a closer look at characters while providing bursts of violence to punctuate those beats. It’s what made “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” so noteworthy, and he’s unafraid to peer into humanity’s darker, pettier sides.
Everyone in this movie is at the top of their games, with meaty character scenes. Gleeson’s stoic performance often leads to genuine remorse, anger, or outright indignation. Farrell’s at times idiotic, laughable, but never far from wounded. Both play stubborn men we sympathize with and loathe in equal measure, and it’s a true feat to tell this story from both perspectives and have an audience walk away feeling like both men justified each other. For their part, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon have all the fun. I often wonder why Barry leans on twitchy performances, but it feels right at home in this film. Kerry’s the only straight-faced person in the entire movie. Her character’s love for her brother (Colin Farrell) drives her, but once the insanity ensues, we see her protesting not one man or the other but the whole lot of them.
“Banshees” is a movie focused solely on the destructive paths these men take to falling out of their friendship. When they seem poised to pick back up a unique camaraderie, either man turns around and confesses to a horrific deed. The film points its fingers at the people surrounding both men. Neither the barkeep nor his patron wants the men to be fighting, but they would rather stomach an eternal silence, a broken détente, than watch Gleeson lose his fingers. They all coddle Farrell’s character by refusing to admit their tiredness of his dull chatter. It’s a film that points its fingers at people too afraid to speak their minds and calls them weak. Only when Farrell’s character unloads on Gleeson in a bar does Gleeson say that’s the most interesting he’s ever been. In the end, the two men only seem to respect each other when they’ve both had their turns wounding each other. Weirdly enough, that is a proper categorization of plenty of male fights.
McDonagh’s not known for showing such bright sides of humanity, but he’s always balanced his macabre fascination with self-destruction and wonderment of human tolerance. In “Three Billboards,” the tolerance for a blatantly racist and violent deputy only found redemption in the prospect of a dangerous mission. In “Banshees,” the two men only earn respect when they take each other down a full peg. The upper limits of our tolerance for each other, it seems, come at an exceptionally high cost.
For those wondering about the finger cutting…. McDonagh does a great job of never showing us the exact self-mutilation. We feel it acutely, however, as Gleeson bleeds from stumps on his hand while walking to the pub. He’s stoic as hell, and the dripping blood makes us shiver. So while it’s remarkably bloodless, the aftermath still sticks in our heads.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” is a great character study. It’s dark like McDonagh’s known for, but its cast brings laughter to such a bleak script. It’s shocking and exciting in equal measure. There are great laughs throughout the film. It takes a lot of effort to get to the ending, and while it may drag a bit, it’s hard to complain when faced with the beautiful Irish countryside. Overall, I enjoyed “Banshees” more than his previous work, even if the ending suggests something rather bleak. I would recommend it to plenty of other people.
Now available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray™ and DVD December 20th
