The Banshees of Inisherin 2022
I knew this movie would be slow and bleak, but I hoped the rave reviews it got would still be justified. Of course they were not. It is a beautifully shot movie, lots of scenery of coastal Ireland in the 1920’s. The cast is very strong, and all of that almost carries the day, but the writing just sabotages all of it. It is just a story of how awful stupid people can be to each other. Not in terms of politics, but just on a personal level. Unfortunately you don’t have to watch a movie to see that all around, so I don’t really need a movie this depressing about people who just refuse to be nice. There might be a story if you knew what caused any of what is going on, or if there was any reason, but it is mostly just irrational. I had a hard time accepting these characters or their disagreements, so the movie didn’t hold up. As a portrait of Ireland it is really impressive, though I doubt there were people who did as incredibly little as the people in this movie. It isn’t a terrible movie, it just stops being enjoyable and then gets worse.
Written: 28 Jan 2023