Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
On Quartile, The Banshees of Inisherin scores 8/10 across five categories — strongest on Plot (Well Above Average), weakest on Acting (Above Average).
Ranked among Quartile’s Top Plot.
Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.
The Banshees of Inisherin is a remarkably distinctive dark fable — McDonagh's allegory of stubborn pride, creative obsession, and the Irish Civil War playing out on a tiny island is utterly singular in conception and tone. The plot's slow-burn escalation from petty social rupture to genuine horror is masterfully controlled, and the performances (Gleeson, Farrell, Keoghan) are among the best of 2022. Roger Deakins-esque island cinematography renders the landscape both gorgeous and oppressive. Novelty is genuinely high — the film's deadpan mythic register is unlike anything else. The ending earns a 3: it is appropriately bleak and resonant but not fully satisfying — it trails off into a kind of stalemate that feels true to the allegory but slightly anti-climactic dramatically. Not every category can be a 4.