On the surface, Martin McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin" is remarkably simple. It's the story of two men; Pádraic (a career-best Colin Farrell) and Colm (the always captivating Brendan Gleeson), whose friendship is suddenly ended by the latter.

The first act of the movie treats the reason behind this decision as something of a mystery, and introduces the audience to the titular island where both men live their simple lives. It's the 1920's and, just across the sea, lies the mainland where the Irish Civil War plays out in a series of explosions that punctuate the island's night. Meanwhile, the folk of Inisherin go about their lives; attending the Church to confess their sins before heading off to the local pub to create more.

The mystery behind Colm's decision is short-lived, leaving both men to come to terms with the new arrangement and the reasons behind it. Pádraic doesn't cope well with this, leaving a frustrated Colm to issue a shocking warning: He will use a pair of shears to remove a finger each time Pádraic bothers him from this point on.

With fantastic support from Kerry Condon (as Pádraic's sister, Siobhán) and Barry Keoghan (as Dominic, dim-witted son of the town constable), "The Banshees of Inisherin" is funny and sad; sometimes at the very same time. It's a story about Irishness, about loneliness, about the time we have on this planet and how we choose what we do with it and those with whom we spend it. It's beautiful and it's ugly, and whilst I don't know if I'll ever want to experience it again, I'm glad that I watched it at least once.