This year has been packed with brilliant film releases – from Top Gun: Maverick to Everything Everywhere All At Once – but few 2022 movies can top Martin McDonagh’s superb black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin.
The film charted the unorthodox falling out between best friends Colm (Brendan Gleeson) and Pádraic (Colin Farrell) at the end of the Irish Civil War, after the former suddenly decided he wanted nothing more to do with his lifelong pal.
Following a Venice Film Festival premiere, it was released to rave reviews in the UK in October, and two months on it’s now available to watch in full on Disney Plus – so there’s still time to catch up if you’re drafting your best-of-the-year list.
If you have seen it, you’ll know that the film ends in a fairly ambiguous manner – read on to have The Banshees of Inisherin ending explained. Be warned: spoilers are ahead.
The Banshees of Inisherin ending explained
Throughout the film, Colm grows increasingly frustrated that Pádraic has not taken his hints about ending their friendship – even going so far as to cut off one of his fingers every time his former pal attempts to speak to him.
Naturally, Pádraic begins to feel rather glum about the whole situation, although he does find some solace in the companionship of his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and local boy Dominic (Barry Keoghan). Meanwhile, things also take a strange turn when local elder Mrs McCormick (Sheila Flitton) alerts Pádraic that there will be one or two deaths on the island soon.
In one last-ditch attempt to fix the friendship, Pádraic visits Colm at his cottage, and the pair have a frank discussion during which it briefly looks like things may be about to improve.
It proves to be a false dawn, however, as once Pádraic has departed, Colm once again reaches for his shears and cuts off the remaining fingers on his left hand – later throwing them at the door of Pádraic’s home.
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This ends up having a doubly negative effect: not only does it prove once and for all that the friendship is beyond repair, it also leads to the death of Pádraic’s beloved donkey Jenny, after she stumbles upon one of the fingers and tries to eat it.
Understandably, this proves to be a breaking point for Pádraic – who alerts Colm that he will burn down his house the next day, regardless of whether he is inside it or not. A man of his word, he goes through with his plan, although he does take the precaution of ensuring that Colm’s dog is not inside at the time.
As he leaves, Pádraic comes across Mrs McCormick, who reveals to him that Dominic – who had recently revealed his unrequited love for Siobhán – has taken his own life, the second death she had previously alluded to, after Jenny.
Despite the act of arson, Colm survives, and the next morning the pair meet on the beach, where Colm apologises for Jenny’s death and suggests that they are now even given his house has been destroyed.
However, Pádraic responds by telling him that their feud would only have ended if Colm had stayed inside the house – suggesting that they are still at an impasse. Even the small amount of hope in the very final exchange of the film – when Colm thanks Pádraic for looking after his dog and he replies “any time” – doesn’t seem like a hint that things will go in any way back to normal.
The whole film can be read as a parallel for the Irish Civil War – against which the drama is set – when the country was irrevocably changed due to a conflict between people who had previously fought alongside one another, splitting up friendships and destroying families.
The Banshees of Inisherin is now streaming on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year.
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