Honest Reviews

Another 2023 Best Picture Nomination, but this time it exceeded more than what I was going into the film. Unlike All Quiet on the Western Front, this one was actually worth watching and in the end (despite ending without resolving matters) it did satisfy me. And I can see this why this movie got nominated for Best Picture Nomination.

Going into this film, I had low to no expectations for this film. I didn’t know much about this, and I hardly saw and trailer for this. All I knew was that people were raving on how good it was. I wasn’t orginally going to see this in the first place, but after seeing this got The Best Picture 2023 Nomination and me trying to tackle it, I knew it was time to sit down and watch this movie. It follows two close friends Padriac and Colm when out of the blue Colm decided to not befriendas with Padriac. Unexpected twists and turns for this story, leads both friends with dire consequences in the end!

This movie for sure is a slow-buiild movie. It takes its time to build the story. It takes its time to get to know the characters, and we get to explore the beautiful countryside on Inisherin. I feel like most of the characters throughout the film was fleshed out well enough for my liking, but the main characters, Padriac (Colin Ferrel) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), were the most fleshed out characters. We got to know them, and by the end of the movie it felt like I knew them since day one. It’s a pretty simple exectued movie that takes its time. And for this movie, it works. It’s a slow-build movie that when you reach the end, it is quite rewarding actually!

I love how this story explores the theme of friendship, and what it means to be a true friend. You see Colm left Padriac because he thought Padriac was too boring for his liking. And for me, this was a very bad excuse to just stop being friends. Because I kept on thinking throughout the film that friendship isn’t about how great or dull or lame a person is — friendship is about the time you spend together and just knowing each other. If my friend was dull, I wouldn’t just leave him (or her) because of that, I would need a more solid reason!

Because of Colm leaving Padriac, some unexpected twists and turns of consequences starts happening. Some of them shocked me not seeing this. I mean after the slow-build of the story, it really gets rich and more rewarding when you watch it. I feel like throughout the film I was rooting for Padriac to get back together in friendship — because maybe he just had the chance. But Colm never even gave Padriac a chance to become friends again. It’s quite a somber, sad story but it’s rich through the acting, story, dialouges, and the scenery. It’s not too rich and slow, but the pacing for sure could have picked up!

This movie for the most part is satisfying. But I was kind of hoping it would be more sad to the point that maybe even tears would come down my eyes. But it didn’t get too sad for my liking. I feel like this movie could have been shortened by the runtime, but overall, this movie is pretty good for being an independent film. It isn’t trying to be a big, fancy movie, but it’s quite the opposite of being humble and just showing an importanc lesson for people to see. It never tries to aim high or do high things, instead it has a humble beginning and a humble ending never losing track of the true meaning of the story.

This movie may not be for all to see, depending upon who loves to watch slow, build-up movie, but if you wait patiently and let it just tell its story it can really get rich and rewarding in its own rights. It’s a movie for me that I won’t see often because I feel like these kinds of movies are the hard ons to come by. It’s a type of a movie that I like to watch now & then just so it doesn’t lose its magic rich story it had on me first time watching!

3.5/5

Banshees of Inisherin

Directed: Martin McDonagh

Writer: Martin McDonagh

Film Editor: Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Executive Producers: Daniel Battsek, Ben Knight, Ollie Madden, and Diarmuid McKeown

Producers: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, and Martin McDonagh

Cast: Colin Ferrel, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, and Pat Shortt

Runtime: 1 hour 53 minutes

Rated: R

Releasers: Searchlight Pictures

Released: October 21, 2022