A+Z Movie Review Podcast · Alex Long and Zach Cavanagh

Episode 26 - The Banshees of Inisherin

·1 hr 11 min·4 clips

Padraic threatens to burn Colm’s house down at two o’clock on Sunday.

Alex and Zach open with The Banshees of Inishere and slot it into their ongoing run through the 2023 Best Picture nominees. They sketch the Irish island setting and frame the film as a friendship falling apart once ordinary life stops feeling ordinary. The tone stays loose right away. They mention the cast, name Martin McDonough as writer and director, and pause long enough to joke about the title coming out a little wrong. That wobble fits the conversation. The hosts keep circling the same core problem: one man wants peace, and another will not stop talking to him. They are interested in how far the film pushes that conflict. Brendan Gleeson's character becomes the center of a long stretch of argument, especially once the talk turns to the escalating threats about cutting off fingers just to be left alone. They do not leave that behavior at the level of a punchline. Instead, they sit with the absurdity, argue over whether it deserves respect, and keep returning to how stubborn that kind of isolation can be. Barry Keegan's Dominic opens another lane. He comes across as different, socially off-kilter, and not great at reading cues, but the hosts are careful not to flatten that into mockery. That distinction matters. They also compare the labels the town throws around, like dull and dim, and how those words land differently depending on who is saying them. The episode keeps finding small jokes inside those observations. The back-and-forth is casual enough that one person makes a point, the other jumps sideways, and then they land somewhere more honest than where they started. Even with the jokes, the conversation never loses the film's sadness. They keep tracking how loneliness, pride, and petty social pressure turn a small dispute into something much darker. By the end they are comfortable calling the movie great, and they close with their running Ed Sheeran gag. It feels like a real post-screening argument, just funnier and a little more affectionate than most people manage.

As heard by us

A candid take on the film's friendship fracture and uneasy humor.

Alex and Zach center The Banshees of Inisherin on the slow collapse of a friendship, and that is where the discussion feels most alive. The film's strange comedy and bleakness sit side by side here, with attention paid to how two men can make themselves impossible to each other…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a loose, funny debrief of The Banshees of Inisherin with two hosts who clearly enjoy the back-and-forth.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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