The Banshees Of Inisherin Review: 9 Ups & 1 Down

7. Brendan Gleeson's Superb Supporting Turn

McDonagh smartly re-teams Farrell with his In Bruges co-star Brendan Gleeson, and the results are magnetic. Gleeson, inarguably one of the finest actors of his age bracket, gives what's surely the best performance of his career also.

Though Farrell's front-and-center turn has earned the lion's share of the acclaim so far, Gleeson debatably has a tougher assignment given that the story's emotional throughline is powered by Colm's decision to break off his friendship with Pádraic.

There's a great deal of mystery surrounding Colm and his motivations, and so Gleeson has to play the part with a certain degree of ambiguity, especially in the film's early going, and that he does with tremendous skill.

It's a part that another actor would've certainly played much bigger and risked veering into caricature, especially given some of the more outlandish threats he makes to Pádraic, but Gleeson grounds it beautifully at all times.

It goes without saying that Gleeson is a major contender for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and it'd surprise basically nobody if he walked away with it.