The Banshees of Inisherin

On the face of it I wouldn’t have thought the Irish have much in common with the Swedes. But the first 30 minutes of this bleakly morose tale could have been directed by the master of gloom   Ingmar Bergman.
The story revolves around two men living in a tiny village on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in the 1920’s.
The two protagonists are superbly played by Brendon Gleeson (Colm) and Colin Farrell(Pádraic).   
Colm the elder of the two decides to break off their friendship
he has found to become stifling, to the unending mystification of the younger Pádraic, who cannot see the reasons for the rift due to the limitations of the world he inhabits, even after its is explained to him numerous times by various people in the community. This is at the crux of this tale.
Colm finally resorting to drastic means in order to convince Padraic he wants to be left alone does nothing to deter him.
Being Irish men in the early 1920’s with no twitter, facebook or video games, only a landline and Guinness to lubricate their communication, it’s no wonder that even with brutal tactics from them both  there is no solution to their dilemma .
On the plus side it is a tribute to the acting skills of the two leads as well as the direction by Martin McDonagh spare and powerful it is, that this film of nearly two hours can hold you attention until the end without any modern trickery. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful at every turn, even the interiors.
This is an old school film in which actual on screen talent carries the entire project aloft.  
A musical comedy this is not, but you knew that.    198 stars     HBO MAX