The Banshees of Inersherin  ★★★★

IT’S almost a century ago, 1923, and the Irish Civil War continues to tear much of the country apart.

But, for the people of Inersherin, a small, sparsely-populated farming community on an island off the mid-west coast, life has continued untouched.

On occasions signs of conflict can be seen and heard from afar, but most people think the mainlanders likely can’t even recall why they started fighting in the first place.

Colm arrives at the tiny pub where he and life-long friend Padraic have shared a pint together probably every day since they reached the legal drinking age.

But on this day Padraic hasn’t arrived. Colm heads off to find him but doesn’t have any luck.

He becomes worried but eventually finds Padraic at the pub drinking alone. In the simplest, most direct way possible, Padraic tells Colm he no longer wants to be his friend and to leave him alone.

Despite Colm’s increasingly desperate requests Padraic refuses to give his former friend any reasons other than he doesn’t like him anymore.

In true fashion for a Martin McDonagh film, The Banshees of Inersherin becomes far more than just a story of two men struggling to deal with reaching the natural end of a friendship.

On one level, audiences will be thoroughly entertained by a quintessentially Irish tale, full of quirky characters and home-spun humour, tinged with sadness and darkness.

But McDonagh’s beautiful script also provides commentary on everything from human relationships to depression, the futility of conflict that can descend into war without the act of dialogue and, a century later, how are society is gradually eating itself from the inside through lack of human contact and communication.

Two of Ireland’s greatest actors, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, are at the top of their form with wonderful support from Kerry Condon as Colm’s sister and Barry Keogh as his friend Dominic.

This is only McDonagh’s fourth film in 14 years, the others being Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. It’s another classic.