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This review of “The Banshees of Inisherin” by Miles Mathis expresses extreme disappointment and anger. The author initially had high hopes for the film, praising its acting, cinematography, setting, and script, particularly the first half, which he found clever, touching, funny, and deep. However, he feels the writer/director Martin McDonagh ruined it by going “Modern” halfway through, resorting to gratuitous violence, specifically the killing of a donkey, to avoid being perceived as making a “sweet movie.”

The author claims he foresaw this turn of events, having stopped watching movies for free online due to feeling “messed with” and “broken.” He admits to reading the plot summary on Wikipedia after the first finger was severed, confirming his suspicion that the donkey would be killed. He believes the donkey was made lovable in the first half solely to be a victim.

He advises readers to watch only the first half of the film and then turn it off, calling it some of the best cinematography he’s ever seen. The author, who is Irish and from the Malloy family, expresses nostalgia for the past and rural Irish life, having visited Galway and its islands. He criticizes the film for “blackwashing” the past and rural living by portraying the islanders as mentally unwell and the one woman who leaves to escape the chaos. He feels the film, despite its idyllic initial presentation, devolves into a “John Wick”-like experience for “comedy.”

The author laments a trend in cinema where beloved characters and innocent creatures are subjected to violence and trauma, citing examples like Bambi, Mufasa, Old Yeller, and Pollyanna. He rejects the idea that this is meant to teach children about life or prepare them for tragedy, arguing that cinema is more violent than reality and actually “seeds trauma” for profit and control by “Hollywood” and the “ruling families.” He concludes that the film, and new movies in general, have nothing to offer him and that he is “done” with them.

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