A bleakly funny breakup fable with sharp writing, gorgeous Irish landscapes, and a slow-burn descent into absurd tragedy. It’s especially rewarding if you like character-driven stories where petty hurt becomes existential catastrophe.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Comedy
Thu · 1h 54m
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon
Overview
Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.
Director
Martin McDonagh
Cast
Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon
Curator Review
Verdict
A bleakly funny breakup fable with sharp writing, gorgeous Irish landscapes, and a slow-burn descent into absurd tragedy. It’s especially rewarding if you like character-driven stories where petty hurt becomes existential catastrophe.
Best for
fans of dark comedy and tragicomedy
viewers who like dialogue-driven character studies
people drawn to rural Irish settings and folklore-tinged mood
audiences who appreciate emotional understatement and moral ambiguity
Skip if
you want a warm or uplifting story
you dislike deadpan humor and bleak endings
you need fast plot momentum or big action
you prefer broadly likable characters
Overview
The Banshees of Inisherin turns a simple rupture between friends into a devastatingly funny study of pride, loneliness, and the need to matter. Martin McDonagh keeps the tone in a razor-thin balance: jokes land, then curdle, and every small insult feels like it might become a life-altering wound. The result is both intimate and absurd, with the island itself feeling like a pressure cooker for regret.
Worth noting
What makes it linger is how precisely it understands emotional immaturity in adults. The film is full of people trying to protect their dignity and ending up more isolated than before. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson give the story its aching center, while Kerry Condon brings a grounded, unsentimental clarity that keeps the film from floating away into pure allegory.
Bottom line
This is not a comfort watch, but it is a richly crafted one. The humor is mordant, the imagery is memorable, and the final emotional note is far sadder than the premise suggests. If you like your comedies with a bruise under the joke, it’s one of the best recent examples of the form.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Ella Kemp (4★) · 34849 likes
I will NOT leave my donkey outside when I’m sad
Laura Parker-Saladino (4★) · 27958 likes
Men will literally cut their fingers off before going to therapy.
•lily• (5★) · 25633 likes
That one unemployed friend at 2pm on a tuesday:
freya. (5★) · 23515 likes
a fine addition to the barry keoghan playing a little weirdo cinematic universe
Bryan Espitia (4.5★) · 13955 likes
So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames
Themes
friendship breakup, male loneliness, pride and resentment, isolation, small-town life, dark comedy, tragicomedy, mortality
Topics
dark comedy, tragicomedy, Irish cinema, friendship breakup, loneliness, absurdism, rural drama, black humor, moral ambiguity, slow-burn