The Banshees of Inisherin

The second movie in my double feature last night was The Banshees of Inisherin and, while it is incredibly depressing, it is also diabolically funny and strangely profound!  I loved it!  On an island off the coast of Ireland in 1923, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) and Padraic Suilleabhain (Colin Farrell) have been friends and drinking buddies for years, mostly due to proximity because they are so different.  One day, Colm suddenly decides that he no longer wants to be friends with Padraic and simply stops talking to him.  Padraic is understandably devastated and demands to know why.  Colm finally explains that he finds Padraic's company dull and that he wants to spend his time on more meaningful pursuits, such as his music, so that there will be something to remember him by.  However, Padraic refuses to accept the situation and, despite the best intentions of Padraic's sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and the sheriff's son Dominic (Barry Keoghan), tensions escalate between them with unexpectedly violent and tragic consequences.  The goings-on descend into the absurd at times and there are some genuinely hilarious moments (I frequently laughed out loud) but this movie has some thought-provoking things to say about depression, isolation, loneliness, mortality, and the desire for a legacy and I think McDonagh strikes the perfect balance between the comedy and the tragedy.  The parallels to the civil war raging on the mainland are highly effective because the conflict between Colm and Padraic is, ultimately, just as futile with no winners.  I actually found both main characters to be incredibly sympathetic (How can Colm be so cruel?  Why can't Padraic just leave him alone?) and that is definitely what made this movie so compelling for me.  Both Farrell and Gleeson deliver incredible performances (Farrell won the Volpi Cup at Venice this year) and Condon and Keoghan (he steals every scene he is in) are also superb.  The cinematography is simply breathtaking and I loved the haunting score.  I think this movie is brilliant, definitely one of my favorites this year, and I highly recommend it.