History Film / TheBansheesOfInisherin

* AmbiguousDisorder: Multiple people on the island comment on Colm's mental state, with Siobhan calling him "ill" and the priest asking about his "despair", implying it's something they talk about often. Plus [[spoiler: chopping off your own fingers doesn't exactly scream emotional stability, does it?]]

* BookEnds: Near the beginning of the film, the priest asks Colm during confession whether his despair is still with him, which Colm curtly denies. [[spoiler: The priest asks Colm again near the end of the film, after his actions have caused Pádraic to swear vengeance against him for causing the death of his pet donkey. This time, he meekly admits that it is still with him]].

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: For all the bridges he burns and fingers he cuts off for the sake of being left to compose his music, Colm is no more content with his life at the end of the film than he was at the beginning, confiding to his priest that his despair is still with him. His self-mutilation of his left hand to drive Pádraic away has also ensured that he will never be able to play the fiddle again]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: As cruel and petty as his justifications for ending his friendship with Pádraic are, Colm clearly gets to Siobhan when pointing out how soul-crushingly monotonous and unfulfiling life on Inisherin can be. [[spoiler: Unlike Colm and Pádraic however, who ultimately can't bring themselves to escape their misery on the island, Siobhan actually takes steps to improve her situation by leaving the island and starting life anew on the Irish mainland]].

* OneHourWorkWeek: A [[JustifiedTrope justified]] example. Other than make a milk delivery, we don't see Pádraic doing any work, and he seems to spend most of his time lounging around or at the pub. He apparently quits whatever work he does do before 2 PM every day to hit the pub with Colm. For his part, it's never clear what Colm's profession even is. This only serves to emphasize how monotonous, uneventful, and repetitive life on Inisherin can be for the three leads, and while Pádraic is content with it, the lack of fulfillment has worn down both Siobhan and Colm.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Colm and Pádraic don't reconcile and likely never will. Colm has lost his home, is now down five fingers of his own choosing, and his sense of despair still there. Dominic drowns; whether by accident or suicide is never determined. Pádraic has lost his only two friends, his sister, and his beloved donkey, and his experiences over the film have left him bitter and vengeful towards Colm. Both men are ultimately doomed to spend the rest of their lives alone on a miserable island they hate, but can't bring themselves to leave. The only bright spot is that Siobhan has apparently found a fulfilling life on mainland Ireland.]]

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Pádraic starts the movie as a simple but nice man. His feud with Colm slowly turns him into a more bitter person in his attempts to rekindle their friendship, and after [[spoiler:Jenny chokes to death on one of Colm's fingers that he threw at Pádraic's door, he tells Colm that he is going to burn down his house in revenge, which he does. When Colm asks Pádraic if burning his house down makes them square, Pádraic says that it only would have made them square if Colm had stayed inside the burning house and died.]]

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Colm cuts ties with Pádraic primarily due to this, believing he needs to spend his remaining years dedicating himself to his music so that he will compose something that will be remembered after he's gone.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Colm seems to suffer almost no distress from his severed fingers and is sometime seen casually going about his business with the stumps still bleeding.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Pádraic is introduced happily walking through town, greeting passersby, on his way to Colm's house, establishing him as a NiceGuy. There's even [[EverythingsBetterWithRainbows rainbow]] in the sky behind him to really drive the point home.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Pádraic is introduced happily walking through town, greeting passersby, on his way to Colm's house, establishing him as a NiceGuy. There's even [[EverythingsBetterWithRainbows rainbow]] in the sky behind him.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Pádraic is introduced happily walking through town, greeting passersby, on his way to Colm's house, establishing him as a NiceGuy.

* TheLesserOfTwoEvils: The Irish Civil War is still on-going on mainland Ireland during the events of the movie, [[spoiler:but Siobhan ultimately decides to take up a job offer there because the aimless mundanity of Inisherin would eventually destroy her spirit.]]

''({{Beat.}})''\\

->'''Pádraic:''' Now, if I've done something to you, just tell me what I've done to you.\\
'''Colm:''' Well, you didn't do anything to me. I just don't like you no more.\\
''({{beat}})''\\
'''Pádraic:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint But you]] ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint do]]'' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint like me!]]

** Colm starts the plot off by deciding he no longer wants to be Pádraic's friend because he's too boring. Siobhan angrily rebukes this by telling him, "You're all [[PrecisionFStrike fucking boring!" Depending on how you interpret his character (and in particular his scenes with the priest where talks about how his despair remains even after cutting Pádraic off), it could be determined that Colm was projecting what he didn't like about himself onto Pádraic.

*** She gives Pádraic a dire warning that "one, maybe two" people are going to die on Inisherin. [[spoiler: Siobhan seems to consider suicide by drowning herself in a lake but is interrupted by Dominic, Dominic does drown, and Colm seemingly burns alive in his home, only to have been revealed to have escaped]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Everything was fine yesterday.]]

''The Banshees of Inisherin'' is a 2022 BlackComedy film written and directed by Creator/MartinMcDonagh. It is [=McDonagh=]'s fourth feature film and stars Creator/ColinFarrell, Creator/BrendanGleeson, Creator/KerryCondon, and Creator/BarryKeoghan.

Set on Inisherin, a fictional island off the coast of Ireland, the film revolves around two longtime friends, Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell) and Colm Doherty (Gleeson). When Colm abruptly ends their friendship, things take a turn for the worse when Pádraic refuses to accept the end of their friendship.

* AbusiveParents: Peadar beats his son Dominic almost every night, and it's an open secret around the island. [[spoiler: At one point Pádraic accuses him of sexually molesting his son as well, it's never confirmed but both Peadar and Dominic's reaction to this suggestion imply it's true]].

** The nature of Mrs. [=McCormick=]: is she just a creepy old lady, psychic in some way, a witch or perhaps she truly is a Banshee, the kind Colm talks about.

* BilingualBonus: 'Inisherin' is an anglicisation of 'Inis Éireann' meaning 'Island of Ireland', which adds a new dimension to the film's themes. Some critics have interpreted the various foibles and unpleasant behavior of the film's characters as being representative of attitudes present in Irish society as a whole.

* BrokenPedestal: Dominic seems to look up to Pádraic, always trying to spend time with him (and Pádraic's sister who he's crushing on). [[spoiler:When Pádraic reveals that he lied to Colm's music student about his father being hit by a truck to make him leave the island to screw with Colm, Dominic says that he thought Pádraic was a better man than everyone else on the island, but that he's no better than everyone else and leaves. This is the final time Pádraic sees Dominic before he dies.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Colm and Pádraic don't reconcile and likely never will. Colm has lost his home, is now down five fingers of his own choosing, and his sense of despair still there. Dominic drowns, whether by accident or suicide is never determined. Pádraic has lost his only two friends, his sister, and his beloved donkey, and his experiences over the film have left him bitter and vengeful towards Colm. Both men are ultimately doomed to spend the rest of their lives alone on a miserable island they hate, but can't bring themselves to leave. The only bright spot is that Sioban has apparently found a fulfilling life on mainland Ireland.]]

* DumbassHasAPoint: Pádraic's rant at Colm at the pub. Despite being drunk off his head on whiskey and stumbling through several points, he successfully calls out Colm for his incredibly petty reasons for ending their friendship, pointing out that the 'less dull' company he's now accepting after cutting Pádraic out of his life includes Peadar, a loathsome man who beats [[spoiler: and molests]] his son. Colm even acknowledges his point, saying he actually likes Pádraic more after doing it.

** [[spoiler:Despite becoming murderously angry at Colm for the accidental killing of his donkey, Pádraic has no desire to kill Colm's dog, even after Ms. [=McCormick=] puts the idea in his head. He even warns Colm to keep his dog safe while telling him that he's going to burn his house down.]]
** By the end of the film Colm is so disgusted by Peader that he knocks him out cold when he starts mocking [[spoiler: Pádraic's grief over the loss of his donkey]].

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: As Pádraic and Siobhan walk back home from the pub after Pádraic spoke to Colm, we see Colm [[spoiler:throwing his severed finger at Pádraic's door, just as he did earlier. We hear a thump against the door...and then another...and then ''another''...]]
** After Pádraic insults Peadar in Mrs O'Riordon's shop, he heads back to his cart and briefly gets distracted noticing Colm coming towards him. In the background while this is happening, Peadar can be seen in the background exiting the shop with his fists clenched. Seconds later, he's punching Pádraic in the face and issuing a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in retaliation for Pádraic's comments.

** In just about every scene she is in, Jenny the donkey is attempting to eat something she shouldn't be. [[spoiler:Eventually she attempts to eat one of Colm's fingers and chokes to death on it.]]

*** When we first meet Dominic he's excited at finding a "stick with a hook" (a fishing gaff) and asks Pádraic what it's used for. Mrs. [=McCormick=] is shown carring the gaff around in several scenes,[[spoiler: and eventually uses it to fish Dominic's body out of the lake.]]

*** She gives Pádraic a dire warning that "One, maybe two" people are going to die on Inisherin. [[spoiler: Siobhan seems to consider suicide by drowning herself in a lake but is interrupted by Dominic, Dominic does drown, and Colm seemingly burns alive in his home, only to have been revealed to have escaped]].
* GoneHorriblyRight: Colms increasingly extreme methods of trying to stop Pádraic from being his friend ultimately work out ''too'' well. By the end of the film [[spoiler: Pádraic has grown to loathe him enough to try burn him alive in his home, and angrily rejects Colm's attempt to end their feud]].

** A minor example when Pádraic notices it's 1st of April and considers that Colm's hostility may have been an April fools' joke. But no.
** Pádraic bursts in to Colm's home later in the film, and after a tense exchange, they manage to have a civil conversation around Colm's music, which leaves Pádraic confident enough that their feud is over that he invites Colm to go to the pub with him. [[spoiler: Once Pádraic has left the home, Colm immediately goes to fetch his shears and cuts off the remaining fingers on his left hand]].

** Colm starts the plot off by deciding he no longer wants to be Pádraic's friend because he's too boring. Siobhan angrily rebukes this by telling him [[PrecisionFStrike "You're all fucking boring"]]. Depending on how you interpret his character (and in particular his scenes with the priest where talks about how his despair remains even after cutting Pádraic off) it could be determined that Colm was projecting what he didn't like about himself onto Pádraic.

* {{Manchild}}: This is Pádraic's characterization. He's rather dim, friendly, and weak willed. He has no love life and seems to want nothing else except to hang around his buddy and pet donkey. When he's angry, he gets childishly spiteful.

* NotHyperbole: People who hear it think Colm's threat to cut off one of his own fingers every time Pádraic talks to him is just exaggeration. [[spoiler: It isn't. At all]].
* OneHourWorkWeek: A [[JustifiedTrope justified]] example. Other than make a milk delivery, we don't see Pádraic doing any work, and he seems to spend most of his time lounging around or at the pub. He apparently quits whatever work he does do before 2 PM every day to hit the pub with Colm. For his part, it's never clear what Colm's profession even is. This only serves to emphasize how monotonous, uneventful, and repetitive life on Inisherin can be for the three leads, and while Pádraic is content with it, the lack of fulfilment has worn down both Siobhan and Colm.

* SelfHarm: Colm warns Pádraic that if he doesn't stop talking to him, he'll cut off one finger every time he does. [[spoiler:He follows through with the threat]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Colm and Pádraic don't reconcile and likely never will. Colm has lost his home, is now down five fingers of his own choosing, and his sense of despair still there. Dominic drowns, whether by accident or suicide is never determined. Pádraic has lost his only two friends, his beloved donkey, and his sister, and his experiences over the film have left him bitter and vengeful towards Colm. Both men are ultimately doomed to spend the rest of their lives alone on a miserable island they hate, but can't bring themselves to leave. The only bright spot is that Sioban has apparently found a fulfilling life on mainland Ireland.]]

** Colm is so disgusted by Peadar that even when he interrupts Pádraic's death threat against Colm, Colm promptly knocks Peadar out.

* OneHourWorkWeek: Other than make a milk delivery, we don't see Pádraic doing any work, and he seems to spend most of his time lounging around or at the pub. He apparently quits whatever work he does do before 2 PM every day to hit the pub with Colm. For his part, it's never clear what Colm's profession even is.

* BookEnds: Near the beginning of the film, the priest asks Colm during confession whether his despair is still with him, which Colm curtly denies. [[spoiler: The priest asks Colm again near the end of the film, and this time he meekly admits that it is still with him]].

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: For all the bridges he burns and fingers he cuts off for the sake of being left to compose his music, Colm is no more content with his life at the end of the film than he was at the beginning, confiding to his priest that his despair is still with him.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Colm and Pádraic don't reconcile and likely never will. Colm has lost his home, is now down five fingers of his own choosing, and his sense of despair still there. Dominic drowns, whether by accident or suicide is never determined. Pádraic has lost his only two friends, his beloved donkey, and his sister, and his experiences over the film have left him bitter and vengeful. Both men are ultimately doomed to spend the rest of their lives alone on a miserable island they hate, but can't bring themselves to leave. The only bright spot is that Sioban has apparently found a fulfilling life on mainland Ireland.]]

* GoneHorriblyRight: Colms increasingly extreme methods of trying to stop Pádraic from being his friend ultimately work out ''too'' well, as [[spoiler: Pádraic grows to loathe him enough to try burn him alive in his home]].

* WickedPretentious: Colm thinks of himself as a great intellectual and artist whose mind is well above those of the other Inisherin residents, bar Siobhan. Siobhan doesn't agree, telling Colm he's just as "boring" as Pádraicare and also corrects him about a claim he made about Mozart at the pub.