The Banshees of Inisherin [dir. Martin McDonagh]

On a remote island off the Irish coast where the church and the local pub are the sole places of gathering and news travels primarily by way of mouth, the life of simple farmer Pádraic / Patrick (Colin Farrell) is upended when his hitherto constant pub-mate Colm (Brendan Gleeson) tells Farrell in no uncertain terms that he does not wish his fraternity anymore. This is not on account of any quarrel between the men, nay; Basically the older Colm has decided to spend his remaining years making something of his life in creative pursuit, and the company of 'dull' Patrick would only be a waste of precious time.

For good reason, Patrick does not take this well. The only other resorts he has for company are his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon), his pet miniature donkey Jenny, and occasionally, the village idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan). Patrick feels betrayed and confused. How could his best friend cut him off that way? But his attempts to break through Colm's hostility are met with even more extreme retaliation, when Colm - a hobbyist fiddler - threatens to cut off one of his (own) fingers for each time Patrick approaches him. As we soon see, it is not an empty threat. The bleak insular nature of the island community creates a pressure-cooker atmosphere, and Patrick's desperation and gullibility to suggestion makes him do the very things that further escalate the situation.

Depending on your viewpoint, The Banshees of Inisherin is either a very bleak comedy or a very funny tragedy. To the credit of writer-director Martin McDonagh, it never stumbles in that ambivalent tone. I admit, I used to regard Colin Farrell as something of a jerk - I could not sit through more than 20 min of In Bruges, and Hollywood's attempts to make an action movie star of him didn't help. But the work he did with Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos made me sit up to the actor, and he proved a real chameleon with his take on the Penguin's character in The Batman. Here he disappears into the simpleton role, exuding a child-like petulance when his friend refuses to acknowledge him anymore, which eventually turns into a dangerous rage.

Brendan Gleeson is equally effective as the man that does not hate Farrell, but cannot stand the idea of wasting any more of life in his company. And fantastic support is provided by Condon and Keoghan (who has worked with Farrell before). The remote Irish isles may be dreary to spend a lifetime in, but they provide a gorgeous untamed backdrop against which the drama is played out. In all, The Banshees of Inisherin is an engrossing feature spun off a simple but effective idea. The numerous awards for which it has been nominated are certainly well-earned.