‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Film Review: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson Are Back for More Twisted, Feckin’ Fun
“What do ya expect?”The film sinks into the atmosphere of beautiful desolation on the island, with its hardscrabble existence, its sense of community, its cows wandering between green fields bordered by stone walls, its impromptu renditions of fiddle reels and folk tunes like “I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day.” You anticipate some kind of explosion because this is Martin McDonagh, but before it arrives the low-key, gentle pace is richly satisfying, and the conversations between Pádraic and Colm (or the lack of conversations, when Colm gets his way) are a delight. Farrell and Gleeson are born to the rhythms of McDonagh’s dialogue, which seems both precise and tossed off, and the casual connection between them is never less than sheer pleasure.Eventually, Colm delivers a gruesome ultimatum of what he’ll do if Pádraic speaks to him again.