Irish filmmaker and playwright Martin McDonagh, who directed the highly acclaimed film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri five years ago, has returned with a new film, The Banshees of Inisherin.

The director’s duo from In Bruges also appears in the lead roles in this film: Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. The film takes place in a town called Inisherin on the coast of Ireland during the early 1920s when the Irish Civil War was raging. How would you feel if your best friend one day told you that they were upset with you for no reason and didn’t want to talk anymore? The film opens with just such an event, as Colm tells Padraic at the pub they regularly meet that he no longer wants to speak with him, despite their strong friendship. Padraic tries to find out why he is upset, but events quickly spiral out of control. Of course, there is a political subtext about the civil war throughout the film. As can be seen in McDonagh’s other films, the series of tragicomic dialogues and situations makes the film very powerful. Barry Keoghan, who played a critical role in The Killing of a Sacred Deer by complementing Farrell’s character in the tense film by Yorgos Lanthimos, also shows off his acting skills as Dominic in this film, playing the “biggest fool” of Inisherin town with finesse. There is also a beautiful letter scene in the film that is reminiscent of the famous letter scene in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and, of course, there are losses.

The acting, screenplay, directing, cinematography, and music usage are all superb, as expected from McDonagh’s writing. We should also note that the film received nine Oscar nominations.