The Banshees Of Inisherin

Welcome to Breakout, the MASSIVE scheme sending 12 first-time writers to London Film Festival to write their debut professional film reviews. For the 12 days following the 12 days of the festival, we’ll be publishing the writing of our chosen stars to celebrate cinema at its finest and introduce you to the next generation’s most promising new critics.

Next up, Newcastle’s Fran Bowden reviews The Eternal Daughter.

With every passing day, the fraught silences between distant gunfire grow longer. Yet, away from the embattled mainland, all is far from well. As one bloody civil war is coming to an end, in this dark comedy another is about to begin.  

To its inhabitants, the make-believe island of Inisherin is a prison as much as a rugged paradise. Trapped in an endless cycle of church, post office, pub, and home, fellow islanders Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) are best friends by force of circumstance – until, without a word of warning, Colm decides the only thing he desires from their relationship is peace and quiet. An amateur fiddler, he intends to devote his remaining years to thinking, composing and very occasionally slow dancing with his dog. 

Pádraic is heartbroken. Despite their best efforts, his bookish sister (Kerry Condon), the village idiot (Barry Keoghan) and Jenny the miniature donkey can’t quite piece him back together. A statue of the virgin stands in judgement over these warring friends-turned-foes as they descend from their usual drunken rows into violence straight out of the unbowdlerized Brothers Grimm. Though the confessional awaits, by the time this new purgatory has entrenched itself, the possibility of contrition seems as remote as their parochial existence on the island. 

For its London-based Irish writer-director, The Banshees of Inisherin is more than a return to cinema in the wake of a five-year absence. During childhood summers and later onstage, Martin McDonagh has been here many times before. His latest offering is a spiritual homecoming to the west of Ireland and the early plays that made his name; a reunion with Farrell and Gleeson, the star pairing of In Bruges; and in the divisive aftermath of his last film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a welcome return to form.

Fran Bowden is a film critic based in Newcastle and Manchester. She is an alumnus of the EIFF’s Young Critics programme and has been published by The Big Issue and The Skinny.

The Banshees of Inisherin is in UK cinemas from October 21. Check back here for more Breakout reviews.