Wry Existentialism, Allegory, and the Death of Friendship: The Varied Dreads of The Banshees of Inisherin

If you’ve never heard of a Banshee, they are a spirit out of Irish folklore known for their wails that are premonitions of death. If you are to hear the scream of a banshee it signifies that you or someone close to you is not long for the world -at least that’s the idea. Faced with such an abrupt revelation, what would you do? What would you change?

In the 1920s, Ireland was in an existential crisis in fear and uncertainty for its’ future. The Irish Civil War is alluded to in Martin McDonagh’s new film, charmingly titled The Banshees of Insiherin (throughout the characters are near enough on their tiny isle to hear the fighting on the mainland), but it is also foregrounded in a metaphorical sense in the war waged between Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson). Their bitter spat, though it amounts to little more than petty grievance, is a microcosm of that very conflict. And while there are no banshees in this film (presumably, the jury’s out on creepy old Mrs. McCormick), what they represent seems very much to be the spark that lit the fuse.

The Banshees of Inisherin is Martin McDonagh’s most theatrical movie yet, by which I mean it reads as written for the theatre more than film. McDonagh of course has been involved in theatre much longer than in the film and this seems a very conscious continuation of his work there. In fact it appears to be the heretofore unproduced third part of his Aran Islands trilogy, which consists of The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Lieutenant of Inishmore -stories about life on the remote islands off the western coast of Ireland where McDonagh spent parts of his childhood. There is nothing nostalgic however about the portrait of one such fictional island in this film -indeed it’s much more focused on melancholy dread even with that characteristic dark humour of McDonaghs’. Fitting, for there be banshees there.

It does kick off from something of a ludicrous place. Pádraic goes to his best friend Colm’s house one morning to be greeted with a cold shoulder. Later at the pub, Colm simply tells Pádraic he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Its’ suggested he has had some kind of epiphany and has decided he can’t tolerate Pádraic’s dullness anymore, which most of the community considers “not very nice”. A stunned Pádraic makes several attempts to talk to him again, but is rebuffed by Colms’ childish attitude of avoidance if not enough direct threats of self-mutilation.

A conflict seemingly borne of nothing, you are pretty inclined initially to take Pádraic’s side in the matter -it does seem unfair to someone considered by most people on Inisherin to be a perfectly decent guy. And McDonagh has a lot of fun with the bewilderment of Pádraic and the locals to this sudden change in attitude from Colm. But as the situation progresses, more understanding is granted to Colm’s point of view -and what’s really behind his choice is made clear. Pádraic, nice and inoffensive though he may be, is a failure, who has lived his entire life on Inisherin where he hasn’t amounted to much of anything. It’s not entirely his fault; Colm calls him “dull” but as Pádraic’s sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) rightly notes, everyone and everything on the island is kind of boring -stuck in their routines, their dreary conversations, and afternoon pub visits. But Pádraic especially is something of an avatar of the island, tepid and unambitious and able to talk for hours about his donkey’s feces (or rather, pony’s -there’s a distinction). Meanwhile Colm, perhaps coming off of a sudden existential crisis, and who is of course a few decades older than Pádraic, is more conscious of life and opportunities slipping away. He talks of legacy, the importance to leave something behind, where everyone else seems content to be forgotten by history -to in Colm’s mind, not matter in the grand scheme of things. McDonagh alludes to depression through Pádraic asserting it may be what’s the cause of Colm’s behaviour, and though it is seemingly brushed off by Colm’s newfound enthusiasm in writing music, talking to students, and expressing himself artistically, it’s clear Pádraic is not entirely wrong.

Certainly someone with no mental issues wouldn’t be responding in quite the way Colm does -who in spite of his generally forward and earnest attitude about the whole thing, takes Pádraic’s perceived offenses to extreme ends. McDonagh plays the twisted humour of it all but never strays too far from the seriousness undercutting their drama that goes beyond just a friendship on the rocks. In spite of everything Colm does, Pádraic keeps trying to make amends because Pádraic against his best efforts, sees exactly the truth in Colm’s assertions and is desperate to fight them. This movie is in some ways the journey of Pádraic realizing how little he’s done with his life, how little he matters and how lonely he is. But rather than reckon with it, he’s chooses denial, and as much as he is Colm’s symbol of everything dull and listless about the island, Colm is Pádraic’s symbol of the blinders needed to get through his life. Hence why to him it’s just as important their relationship resume as it is for Colm that it ends. Pádraic hasn’t got it in him to face that existential nightmare -especially with so few other attachments in his life.

Farrell is impeccable in this performance, one of the saddest I’ve seen him give, even while it’s dressed in a lot of humour. It is in some part reminiscent of another of his mellow roles, for McDonagh’s In Bruges back in 2008. But there’s a greater weight here of age and attitude kept together by a fierce stubbornness that belies a debilitating fear of confronting his life choices. Farrell keeps that misery barely under the surface, alluding to a fight going on within himself and creating the image of a man who on some level wants change but not at the expense of comfort or risk. He also proves he’s still really got it where irreverence is concerned, this is the funniest he’s been allowed to be in years. But I hope the conversation around his Oscar chances doesn’t dilute how great Brendan Gleeson is as well -there’s something so haunting and alluring about the ambivalence to his actions, his perseverance and his pride. Though underrated in the film industry, Gleeson is one of its’ most astounding actors and is always at his best working with the McDonaghs. Kerry Condon gives a commendable performance too as the island's only reasonable person, her desperation to leave Inisherin in conflict with her love for her brother is very keenly felt. And then there’s Barry Keoghan as the local troublemaker Dominic who looks up to Pádraic and is the only kind of friend he has left.

As suggested earlier where the dynamic between Pádraic and Colm develops, the plot seems to be a conscious allegory for the partition of Ireland. One decides all of sudden his destiny and ambitions lie a different way and seeks to cut off the person in his life who is a seeming drain, a person who wants to maintain his comforts and keep them together as much as he can. Colm is an embodiment of the spirit of the republican Catholic south while Pádraic is the conservative Protestant north. It’s not a perfect parallel but there’s enough to it that the story is infused with fascinating layers as to its’ commentary -and where the movie resolves becomes an even more curious statement on the nature of the conflict and its’ ongoing wounds.

It’s some blunt messaging for a McDonagh film, but there are complexities within it -far more than one might presume from a movie about friends breaking up. McDonagh’s dialogue is once again his biggest strength, his mastery of the linguistic patterns and personalities of these eccentric isolated Irish -a strong picture is presented of Inisherin and its’ people that relates both a convincing quirkiness and dullness -enough to drive Siobhán away. But the Banshees remain; even as they won’t talk to each other they depend on one another, heralding death and screeching into the void of an uncertain future …all because they just couldn’t stay friends anymore.

The Banshees of Inisherin releases October 21st.

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