The trailer has dropped for Martin McDonagh’s new drama-comedy film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson and it looks like it’s going to be an absolute riot.
Set on a remote Irish island in 1923, in the middle of the Irish Civil War, the story follows two lifelong friends, Pádraic and Colm, who fall out. Well, more specifically Colm abruptly decides he wants to end their friendship.
“I just don’t like you no more,” says Gleeson’s character Colm in the trailer, against a backdrop of grey dry stone walls and verdant Irish hills.
But, in true McDonagh style, this is only just the beginning: Colm then threatens Pádraic, saying that every time he bothers Colm, Colm will cut off one of his fingers and give it to him.
“I’d shush like,” recommends one stressed-looking villager in the pub, after overhearing Colm’s warning.
The scene is well and truly set for the hilarious, and undoubtedly weirdly endearing tale.
Joining Gleeson and Farrell on screen are Irish actors Kerry Condon (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Avengers: Infinity War) who will play Pádraic’s sister Siobhán, and Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, Eternals) who will play Dominic, a younger villager.
Most recently, Farrell has played The Penguin in the Matt Reeves’ Batman blockbuster, while Gleeson starred as King Duncan in Joel Coen’s 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth.
McDonagh is best known for directing and writing 2008’s In Bruges, which also starred Gleeson and Farrell, 2012’s Seven Psychopaths and Oscar-nominated 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Known for his scabrous dialogue, McDonagh has over 30 nominations and awards for his work, including two Golden Globes wins for Best Motion Picture (Drama) and Best Screenplay (Motion Picture) for Three Billboards.
Speaking about the forthcoming film to Vogue in April, McDonagh said: “We got beautiful weather, it looks really stunning. The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed on the west coast islands of Inishmore and Achill. I think it’s really good.”
Then, speaking to Vanity Fair in July, he said: “I wanted it to be as beautiful as possible. To aim for beauty and for cinema. Because if you heard of a story of two guys grumbling at each other, and you didn’t have the epic kind of beauty, it might get a little tiresome.”
The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, followed by a screening at the Toronto Film Festival, before being released by Searchlight Pictures to audiences in October.
