The Banshees Of Inisherin Review: 9 Ups & 1 Down

Downs...

1. It's Not QUITE Martin McDonagh's Finest Work

The Banshees of Inisherin Colin Farrell Brendan Gleeson
Searchlight Pictures

Though many will surely herald McDonagh's latest as his best work to date, it's easy to view that declaration with a little recency bias.

Sure, it effortlessly trumps Seven Psychopaths, yet In Bruges and especially Three Billboards are such mighty productions in their own right that it feels a little hasty to deem this a career-best effort from the filmmaker.

Three Billboards hit with such brutal, sledgehammer force, which clearly wasn't McDonagh's intent this time around, and slammed into a visceral, emotional high-gear which The Banshees of Inisherin, in part by design, never quite reaches.

This is a more restrained and subtle effort that's far more concerned with the interior lives of its characters, and while tremendously effective to that end, doesn't prove quite as satisfying - especially for mainstream audiences - as his previous film.

But it's really the most minor "gripe" about such a brilliant film: there's basically nothing worth quibbling about here otherwise. As such, here are the many, many things it knocks out of the park...

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.