Friendship, Ambition and Despair in The Banshees of Inisherin

Man resorts to self-mutilation just so that his ex-best friend stops talking to him. Ladies and Gents, Hater of the Year 2022 goes to Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson).

Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin has a story that emanates a folklore-esque feel with its seriocomic tone, mythical elements and farcical scenarios. Underneath its amusing presentation, there is an ominous and tragic theme of loneliness - which takes the foreground in the third act as the film wraps up on a rather despondent note.

Colm’s resolution, at first what seems absurd and childish, starts to seem more personal and tragic as the story unfolds. A huge chunk of life filled with aimlessness and passivity comes back to haunt him, and in all these years, Pádraic’s (Colin Farrell) companionship didn’t help. In the dying embers of his workable life, he tries to reignite that artistry. And that means cutting his best friend out of his life. As self-righteous as it may seem, it's hard to blame Colm for wanting some peace and space to work on his passion.

Pádraic doesn't deserve it. He is incapable of understanding the conundrum. Content with an idyllic pastoral life on an island untouched by war, he now struggles with self-introspection upon hearing Colm’s abrasive remarks about him being dull and uninspiring. Is just being a nice guy not enough? We see an interesting dichotomy in the approaches to the meaning of life. Of the millions and millions of nameless humans that have lived, only a few have done something to have their names written in history. Colm knows it will take sacrifices.

Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), can be seen as a parallel to Colm - had he been more resolute about his passion in his younger years. Partly exasperated by the madness in the village, she leaves for the city to pursue a career. I'd like to believe she won’t ever come back, and Pádraic would never go to her either.

“Some things there’s no moving on from.” 

Pádraic is like the old parent who just won't leave the old family house, no matter how sumptuous a mansion their child bought in the city. Home is everything. The friends you make, the people you get in fistfights with, the congenial pub owner, the weird kid you can’t help but pity, everyone is part of a big family that your heart just can’t let go of. Pádraic is in a state of peaceful insulation against a world that is forging ahead.

From what looked like a short story about a dysfunctional friendship, McDonagh is able to craft something that is so existentially profound, heartbreaking and visceral. By the time it ends, it feels grander and deeper on the scale of emotional magnitude than its ludicrous beginning - which seemingly promises a lighthearted film.