Review of The Banshees of Inisherin

 

A film by Martin McDonagh, set in the Arran Islands off the west coast of Ireland during the closing years of the civil war, and featuring some of his favourite actors from his other films, notably Brendan Gleeson. This is almost unbearably dark - it's called a dark comedy, but there aren't many laughs, and they get fewer as the film goes on. 

It's about the developing enmity between two islanders who were formerly close friends, where one of the pair (Brendan Gleeson) decides that the other is dull and a waste of his remaining years, which he could spend composing a piece of music that will give him some immortality. The other, played by Colin Farrell, takes this badly and wants to resume their easy if empty friendship, with increasingly tragic consequences. 

It's a beautiful well-made film, but hard to watch.

Watched at the Vue cinema in Stroud - first visit to an actual cinema for ages!