The Banshees of Inisherin

A pleasant, cruel conversational movie about the fact that sometimes you can simply hate your neighbour for no apparent reason. There isn’t anything especially deep about it; it’s just a pleasantly thick stout with white foam in the form of a great central duo and a setting that’s as hearty as its inhabitants. (2023-01-14)

A perfect portrayal of that strange human behaviour, when a person does something that those around them don't understand, but at that moment it makes perfect sense to them. Martin McDonagh only needed another feature film with a polished script and sensational actors to say something others can't. And while there is no moment as powerful as Sam Rockwell's in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, it's a great film to reflect on for a long time afterwards – not because you want to understand it, but because you just want to think about it. (2023-02-13)

Though I expected a more interesting and more powerful ending, The Banshees of Inisherin is still a great study of unconventional characters with an unconventional conflict in an unconventional, heavily atmospheric setting. The film is playfully tragicomic and unpredictable, as action and reaction are determined by two incompatible villagers from the end of the Earth who are passively squandering their lives. The first half is masterfully written and directed. However, the actual question of how their problem will be resolved in the first half is more entertaining than its resolution in the second half. Colin Farrell is again excellent and Carter Burwell (the Coen brothers’ court composer) is great, as is the setting, which is itself an important character in the film. (2023-01-19)

I tell myself that this is exactly how every girl I try in all honesty to make contact with must feel: she'd rather cut off her fingers and throw them on my doorstep than answer me. McDonagh's once again wipes its ass with Hollywood clichés and serves up another searing relationship film about people separated from the "norm" of civilization, alternating funny and bizarre scenes with tragic ones in a balanced rhythm. It is about the boundless loneliness of those people who have chosen such a life for themselves, as well as those who are in it involuntarily, a morally pure and naive versus skeptical view of the world. And the fact that sooner or later they'll converge. There was no twist that grounded me this time, and the character of the old fortune teller seemed a bit unnecessary, but I will definitely be thinking about this film for some time. Only I don't know yet if it's because of the overall message, or just because of some scenes and the performances. (2022-12-16)

The (un)official final part of the free trilogy from the Aran Islands. Of McDonagh’s works, this the closest to his theatre roots, which is a problem. McDonagh is a better writer than director and a better playwright than screenwriter, and as a film director, he tries to hide the distinct theatricality of the script, which is a mistake, it would be better if he accepted it for what it is. It is a minor detail, but coupled with the fact that it's not the best part of the trilogy, which also as a whole is overshadowed by the Leenan trilogy, means that The Bahsees of Inisherin feels like a tiny step backwards for McDonagh as a writer and as a director. Since his film debut, I've wanted him to be closer to his roots in style and substance, and this confirms the proverbial "be careful what you wish for, it might come true". But does any of this mean it's not excellent or perhaps superbly acted? Not at all. (2023-02-07)