I’m not sure what, precisely, I expected when walking into my screening of The Banshees of Inisherin, but it wasn’t…well, The Banshees of Inisherin. The Academy Award Best Picture nominee from director Martin McDonagh manages to be both hilarious and heart-wrenching in one breath, thanks in no small part to career-high performances from a cast including Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Kerry Condon (each nominated for their own Oscars). Despite its absurdist plot points—the story’s about a man willing to cut off his own fingers to avoid an old buddy—Banshees remains laser-focused, its sharpness as essential as its sincerity. Never has a friendship between two aging men felt so bizarre, or so terrifyingly real.
Former pals Pádraic and Colm might not be the most approachable folks in western Ireland, but thankfully it’s easy enough to watch their antics if you’ve got the right streaming service. Just be forewarned: Don’t get between Pádraic and his donkey.
There are several options for watching The Banshees of Inisherin online. They include:
A top contender among the Academy Award slate (and, let’s be honest, Farrell deserves Best Actor for expressive eyebrows alone), Banshees is a glorious mess of contradictions, aching and funny and the perfect watch for a weekend movie binge ahead of this year’s Oscars.
Culture Writer
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.