The Banshees of Inisherin | Full-Length Reaction
Added 2025-02-04 23:22:39 +0000 UTCComments
I enjoyed watching your reaction to the film and hearing your thoughts and everyone else’s. I grew up in a small isolated town. To give an idea of how small, my senior class in high school was 25 students; today the senior classes at the high school average 8-15 kids so the community is even smaller now. The closest town is over an hour away by car. 2 hours if the weather is bad. When I watched this movie, it reminded me of how it is to have a friendship in a small place and how you may not have picked that friend if you weren’t in such a small community. It’s possible that Padraic and Colm grew up together and were lifelong friends by default. When you grew up somewhere small with people you know your whole life, they become part of your everyday to the point that you never realized whether you truly liked them, or if it’s just the fact that they were just always there in your life. I think Colm may have had a moment of realization that this was how his friendship with Padraic was on the island. Perhaps, Colm even saw that his life choices had worked out the same way. He was only living through what was available around him. That lifestyle isn’t for everyone and maybe what depressed Colm is that he didn’t realize it until later in his life.
C B
2025-02-11 17:41:56 +0000 UTCI love your perspective on it
Franklin
2025-02-07 20:05:32 +0000 UTCSo I have thought a lot about this movie after finishing it, and here are some thoughts: I think everyone is wrong except the Banshee. I think gut instinct compels us to go with Paddy: being nice is much more important than the work, or the art. Being nice *is* the legacy. All of Picasso's works are not as important as the women he wrecked. Directors who make a film shooting hell for their actors or crew are not justified if the movie turn out good. A person is always more important than a painting, or a movie, or a piece of music. But when Paddy talks about "being nice", what he actually wants is a form of social pleasantry: just go to the pub, talk about nice things... Don't express yourself too much. Don't need your own time. Don't rock the boat. Don't change things. Don't leave the island. Don't search for something. Don't put your pain into art. And there is something fundamental and visceral that Colm brings to the fore: Something is broken. The pain needs somewhere to go. Things don't really work underneath the pleasant inertia of the friendship and the life of the island. Where do the people who are different go, if there's only one place, and you have to be pleasant and nice there, you know? It reminds me of how autistic people feel asphyxiated when they have to mask in order to be liked. Or when people are okay with someone being gay "as long as I don't have to notice". There's a fundamental madness in the kind of denial that demands everything stay always nice and nothing ever change. And so only a radical violent act can shake that off. But even when Colm chops off a finger, Paddy still thinks if he ignores it and makes arrangements to go back to how things always were, that it will be fine! And that's Paddy's lunacy. You can't pretend things haven't changed, you can't refuse to see a person's pain. Where Colm goes wrong, apart from how violent his expressions are, is in trying to make something for the future; worrying too much about his legacy and his importance, and what people will think 500 years from now. He'll be dead, he won't get to know! And also, legacy changes with time: our view of Picasso today is certainly darker (deservedly, imo) than how celebrated he was when he had just passed. My sister always says that you don't get to decide what your legacy is, that is always decided by others, so you can't start making your art with that in mind! Sometimes art is unpleasant. Or visceral, or bodied, or uncomfortable. Maybe Colm's fingers are a more honest artistic expression than his fiddling! Because in the end, only the Banshee is right: she's not trying to be nice, but also not trying to have a legacy. She's just trying to be *accurate*. And that's all we can hope for, really. To accurately describe and express who we are, how we feel, the time we have to live through, and how we see and experience the world. PS: Where I see the parallels to history (although I'm not Irish, so correct me if I'm wrong) is that Paddy just cannot allow Colm's independence: he doesn't understand why he would want to do his own thing, since the dynamic where they always did what Paddy wanted was "working just fine"! And at first, that desire for independence is express through violent self-harm: if I can't be my own person, I'll hurt myself until you let me. But then of course it escalates until nobody can remember what the starting incident even was.
Lola Lirola
2025-02-06 22:48:07 +0000 UTCI like your take on this. I didn’t analyze the film but I felt it right to my bone marrow.
Susan B
2025-02-06 22:04:48 +0000 UTCThat wasn't a ramble at all and I agree with your sentiment on shifting the importance of legacy away from this external things or weird benchmarks. At a base level the only things that matter are the way we treat those we choose to include in our lives and also how we treat ourselves. Neither of those things is easy to do.
James W.
2025-02-06 06:14:58 +0000 UTCDe Nada
Laura Thate
2025-02-06 03:41:18 +0000 UTCyap session appreciated
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:55:37 +0000 UTCgracias
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:54:28 +0000 UTCthanks
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:54:15 +0000 UTCOh I know he can be very very very not Dominic👀
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:54:06 +0000 UTCI love your thoughts on the movie. A story about empathy and friendship
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:38:26 +0000 UTCI was thinking the same
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:36:37 +0000 UTClove all the connections you made and explained. More long comments please 😊
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:35:29 +0000 UTCdawg! I have a feeling it is going to be more heartbreaking watching it in season 2 live-action. Holy shit. Embrace yourself. Thanks for asking I Shrek question lol such a simple man, so unfortunate he turned into the spiteful one
Franklin
2025-02-06 00:32:26 +0000 UTCOh man, The Last of Us 2's ending broke my damn heart. Going to be genuinely difficult watching the second season of the TV series. Been a while, but I think Shrek had a Scottish accent. We Irish' Celtic cousins, haha. Found it funny watching through this time and catching all the hints that Padraic is genuinely the dumbest man on the island, lmao.
Shane
2025-02-05 20:26:11 +0000 UTComg also the old lady is one of the banshees of inisherin. Prophetic, foreboding, and even tempts Siobhan to jump in the river before she gets scared by Dominic. In tune with death, no longer needing to bring it upon humans since they do that part themselves now. Just standing by watching its effects on humanity.
Ray Criswell
2025-02-05 18:06:20 +0000 UTCew so sorry for the long comment, just dont get to talk about this movie much
Ray Criswell
2025-02-05 18:01:51 +0000 UTCSo glad you watched this! One of my personal favs. The message in this movie seems to be (to me at least) about the innate conflict that exists in everyone and how it can affect those around them. To me, everyone in this movie has a valid and unique point of view. The issues and conflicts start to arise when they project these emotions on others or try to find blame in other people for their own emotional state. Colm blames Padraic for his inability establish a legacy for himself beyond just being alive and being nice, and seems to hate him for loving him despite his lack of accomplishments. He projects this insecurity onto his friend and uses him as a scapegoat for his frustrations with life. Siobhan blames the island and its inhabitants for her misery because she refuses to accept the fact that she doesn't belong due to the guilt she feels for wanting to leave. Despite her yearning for a different life, she feels as though she has no choice but to stay here. In her mind she owes it to this island and its people for raising her and her brother. Heck, even the policeman goes around projecting his insecurities on everyone, trying to pick fights with anyone who rubs him the wrong way, even his own son. And i believe its all supplemented by the war going on in the background. It's a literal conflict amongst humans that will leave scars for generations, not just for the people fighting but for the areas and people around it. And nobody knows or even cares why its happening, it just is and they all just deal with the consequences. And this to me seems to be the point. We let these issues boil up and when they overflow, we rush to conflict with one another, despite its effect on everyone. There's consequences to that, the mistreatment of Dominic led to his death, the hesitation to leave made Siobhan's inevitable escape much harder on her and her brother, Colm's insecurities about life resulted in Jenny the Donkey's death and in my opinion, completely changes Padraic forever. He's let a bit of that toxicity in, and let a bit of that niceness go. I think that's why Colm says he fears the idea that God doesn't care about dead Donkeys. It's also why he leaves his dog outside when his house burns. Even if God doesn't care about collateral damage, he's finally starting to. But the damage is done, and in the end there's no changing that, you just have to live with it.
Ray Criswell
2025-02-05 18:01:14 +0000 UTC“It’s great that you finished your tune” should be followed by a request to hear the tune. But he’s not really interested in Colm’s music.
Susan B
2025-02-05 17:32:25 +0000 UTCBarry Keoghan is a treasure
Susan B
2025-02-05 16:40:12 +0000 UTCI absolutely loved this movie when it came out. I don’t really like to analyze anything in particular with films when I watch them. So I can’t add to any intellectual analysis of the film and its metaphors. However, as an emotions based viewer, I found myself in a constant rollercoaster during this whole movie. I related immediately to Pádraic’s character and understood the shock he felt when bluntly outcasted by his own mate, and told that he was too monotonous and a waste of Colm’s time. He begins to reflect on his own self. Feeling this sense of shame now for something he wasn’t even aware of, and attempting to seek validation to combat those feelings. All while refusing to accept the grief of a friendship. As much as I share many traits from Pádraic’s character, I do have the despair of Colm. That self-awareness of how our time in this existence is fleeting. He clearly had a deep admiration for the arts, shown by his puppets, masks, and by far his music — and being the older age that I assume he was, I’m sure there was a moment of reflection on his time left. As someone who has severe depression, and is hyper aware of my own existence — I can understand his reasoning for letting go of what he deemed trivial, in order to provide that peace to be authentic to himself. I also weirdly understood his extremist tendencies, however the unfortunate circumstances they caused. Overall, we shared some of the same favorite parts. Such as the drunken wisdom about niceness, how it is remembered, and then that (almost innocent like) connection of “wait, maybe you weren’t nice this whole time.” This is just my opinion and how I reflect back on the film. While the film was mostly them going back and forth on not being friends — I always leave the film believing it was a story about empathy and friendship.
Sarah Rose
2025-02-05 16:13:25 +0000 UTCYou have captured my thoughts exactly. Especially the desire to make something meaningful of your life. Maybe because I also have more years behind me than in front? In any case, thank you for such a thoughtful analysis. Although, lately I have been confronted by the lesson that maybe we don't need to have a "legacy" (to have done the great work, to have had children, to have written the novel) for our lives to have meaning. Which has been a jolt to my soul. That we already have impact just for being here, and that the legacy is how we treated each other and nothing more. Which puts another spin on this movie, because both Colm and Paddy are pretty terrible at that! Men have been robbed of healthy ways to deal with their own emotions, I think there's also some of that in the movie. And the Troubles allegory also hit quite hard, because my country, Spain, had a civil war, and I'm of the first generation born in democracy, so my parents and grandparents lived through it and they all had stories, and it's so hard to reconcile what happened when the conflict doesn't come from outside... the consequences still make waves, even within families. Anyway, sorry I tend to ramble, but your comment made me think!
Lola Lirola
2025-02-05 14:05:35 +0000 UTCSadly, I have to agree with this. It's a wild ride but also an essential viewing experience for any Barry Keoghan fan
Ray Criswell
2025-02-05 13:33:29 +0000 UTCI have no words of wisdom or insight as to adequately state any opinion on this movie, other than feelings. The acting was well done. Well represented the storyline was elusive other than to compare it to the feelings, dredged up from many many moons ago of listening to grandpa and my father When they didn’t know, I was listening as a child coming away with this instinctual, deep, genetic memory of what would be called in Ireland, the troubles. Every nation has gone through their version of The Troubles, some lasting longer than others, but always imprinting upon that generation something that seems to seep into the genetics of the children born after of memories they never knew yet will always feel deep within their spirit that will continue to carry on until humanity decides to reconcile their troubles, individually community and spread throughout the world. Hope, Love, and appreciation for life.
Laura Thate
2025-02-05 05:23:58 +0000 UTCIn Bruges is wonderful!
Susan B
2025-02-05 04:40:16 +0000 UTCWell, Frank, there’s no way to say this gently: you’re going to have to see Saltburn now, to see just how un-Dominic-like Barry Keoghan can be. 😬
Susan B
2025-02-05 04:36:43 +0000 UTCRow-ing just means arguing.
Susan B
2025-02-05 04:26:01 +0000 UTCI need a second dog so I can name him ColmSonnyLarry.
Susan B
2025-02-05 04:23:09 +0000 UTCI had let my Patreon membership lapse, but then I saw this movie! I’m excited.
Susan B
2025-02-05 04:18:38 +0000 UTCBoth of the McDonagh brothers make great films. John made Calvary and The Guard which both also star Brendan Gleeson who is always fantastic. None of them are easy films and I love them for it.
James W.
2025-02-05 04:00:37 +0000 UTCRowin it means to having a disagreement or an ongoing dispute.
Laura Thate
2025-02-05 03:03:07 +0000 UTCI wouldn't say I am either of those dudes, they are both wonderful and awful in equal measure. As I get older I see less value in people pleasing which is probably why I lean towards Colm more, even in his extremity. There are more years behind me than in front so the desire for some sort of lasting meaning to my life is a new flavor of existential angst. I can see that spurring someone into funky lines of thought. In that way I also empathize with Colm a bit as well. I don't think it is pretension that has him trying to focus on his art as much as him wanting to maximize his time doing the only thing that has ever felt meaningful to him. We can see that he does still care about Paddy, he is sincere that he has no desire to hurt him but Colm is just as certain that he needs time to deal with his own shit and Paddy is an impediment to that. I feel bad saying it, even about a fictional character but Padraig wasn't going to be of any help with what Colm was grappling with. At the surface Padraig is a good dude, but the more I watch him as a character and as a person his niceness feels disingenuous. Then what he did to poor Declan, lying about his father and all that. Paddy is manipulative and there is an ugliness to him, so transparently so that even Dominic calls it out immediately. Honestly, we should all strive to be more like Siobhan, the rest of those people are tragically sad and broken.
James W.
2025-02-05 03:00:43 +0000 UTCmade my comment before i read yours rn and it's so funny we have such differing viewpoints of padraig but came to the same conclusion about it being a troubles allegory HAHAHA but its super interesting to read your take on him!!! I might be the padraig to your colm
lai
2025-02-05 02:15:30 +0000 UTCthis is one of my favorite movies; likewise martin mcdonagh is one of my favorite filmmakers. another one of his films (also starring colin farrell & brendan gleeson; his staple lead actors LOL) is "In Bruges" & it has a similar tone of dark comedy mixed into tragedy, but considerably more action-packed than inisherin -- u may enjoy it! my family is irish (tho i'm irish american so i have a way more Diaspora pov compared to my full irelandborn brethren HAHA) and this movie perfectly encapsulates the general Gloom of what being irish feels like imo. a cultural history full of so much gloom and despair but also empathy and love and, well, niceness. padraig is such a lovable protagonist, his character speaks to me so much. it's so sad to watch him in real time develop the feeling of insecurity at his own simpleness. he truly wants for nothing. he is content in the simpleness, unlike his sister and his (ex)best friend and everybody else on his island who all yearn for something greater. the scene of him asking siobhan if she thinks he's dim and if anybody laughs at him behind his back is so sad and sweet. i think something could possibly be analyzed about the parallels between the irish civil war & colm and padraig - you could almost see them as kind of personifications of the conflict between the free state & the IRA. but i think it's more of an undertone kind of parallel than an overtone, i think the movie really is just a tale about ye olde irish despair; showcased by a sad dim man and his beef with his petty fingerless ex bestie. yap session over LOVED THE REACTION !!
lai
2025-02-05 02:10:02 +0000 UTCWeird that it was flagged as horror or thriller but I guess it is sort of body horror. I am sure you already figured it out but to have a "row" or in the case of this movie to be "rowin" is having an argument or a series of disagreements that destabilize a relationship. It isn't specifically an Irish thing, as I have heard it in the US but it would be regional vernacular for sure. I always heard it from the reference point of a couple having a row, but it could really be used in any context. Like politically the US is rowin' with pretty much everyone, even itself. I just hope we keep most of our fingers in the end. I side with ColmSonnyLarry pretty much top to bottom. I think his approach was jarring and a bit cruel but after spending time with Padraig I begin to understand why he went from zero to 100. I know people like that Padraig, my mother and father have a bit of Padraig in them. For all his going on about "niceness" he was dismissive and judgemental about his friends passion. When Colm set a clear boundary, Paddy trampled all over it. Padraig is a fake vapid niceness that turns poisonous when he feels slighted; to me that isn't isn't true niceness any more than what Colm was being true friend. You can be held prisoner by someone else's polite disregard of you. On another note I think the story was also intended as bit of an allegory for "The Troubles" and civil war in Ireland. Each of the characters that we see can be just be taken as face value but if you look at them more broadly they sort of illustrate the different narrative construct that shows a behavior of a faction or sect during that time.
James W.
2025-02-05 00:38:37 +0000 UTC
