“The Banshees of Inisherin" is set against the backdrop of the Irish civil war (1922-1923), in which people who once fought together in the previous Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) decided to fight against each other. Although the habitants of Inisherin (a fictional island) keep their distance from the war, and seem mostly unbothered by it, I suspect a lot of the movie is about the war and the absurdity of it.

The movie begins with Pádraic (Colin Ferrall) in the beginning of a fall-out with his friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson), for what reason he does not know. But Padraic needs an answer. It turns out that Colm just wants to be left alone. He…