Inisherin's Banshees Prove Kindness Isn't Enough - Even If You're Colin Farrell

It's telling that Colm likes Pádraic the most when he stops being the good guy. He says he likes Pádraic better when he's drunk, for starters. After Pádraic curses him in the pub, Colm jokes that it was the most interesting conversation they've ever had: "I think I like him again."

Colm isn't exactly a nice guy himself. When he confesses, the village priest (David Pearse) confronts him with Pádraic's abandonment. Colm says what he's doing isn't a sin, and while the priest agrees, he says it's not really right either. Colm erases that. While Colm lacks the decency of Pádraic, he has the passion, which shows in his music. Colm threatens (and pursues) to cut off his fingers if Pádraic doesn't leave him alone. It's a perfect summary of how depression hurts you; Colm won't be just because of his missing fingers, but because he'll never play the violin again.

Pádraic, on the other hand, obviously never took much interest in Colm's music. He doesn't know who Mozart is, even though his friend admires him. He asks for the name of Colm's finished composition, but as usual, it's just chatter.

Does anyone on Inisherin have the right mix of kindness and passion? Yes Siobhan. She has the same good heart as her brother and a love of reading to match. Naturally, she's also the only one to escape purgatory on the island, taking a job as a librarian on the mainland. Both Pádraic and Colm could learn useful lessons from listening to his Siobhán and part of the tragedy of the film is that they don't.

Being kind to others is important. That's not to say that other qualities aren't important.