The Banshees of Inisherin

“The Banshees of Inisherin” is a beautiful, darkly hilarious ode to loneliness. For the first quarter of the film, you're kind of not sure where it's going. And honestly there's nothing funny early on to guide your expectations as it sets up the premise: two friends – one has had enough, and breaks off their friendship. The other wants it to continue, and misses his friend. It's a simple, relatable concept that spirals into Van Goghian extremes in the second half. The second half is also where the dark humour comes in, and there are some jokes that land as well as I've ever seen. There is a joke about getting run over by a bread truck that is legitimately one of the funniest things I've ever heard in a movie. I was cackling aloud and had to pause it. It's that good.

The acting is all top notch. The stars are Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, which whom, if you don't know, have acted together in another absolutely killer flick by the same writer/director - “In Bruges”. They have amazing chemistry as warring friends, and Colin Farrell especially knocks it out of the park as someone seeing his way of life crumble around him as he tries to hang onto his valued relationship threads.

It's got some hilarious moments, but it's also a deeply sad movie. It highlights loss, mourning, and the struggle to move of from the things we value in our past.

It's beautifully filmed on location in Ireland, and it not only shows how gorgeous the landscape is, but shows us how spread out and barren the community the characters live in are. This underlines why their friendship is so important, there is hardly anyone around to even make other friends with.

I loved it. It won't be for everyone, especially if you have a short attention span. But for fans of “In Bruges” or other dark comedies, you'll be hard pressed to find a better darkly comedic drama.

9/10