Baking & the Big Screen: Irish Soda Bread & The Banshees of Inisherin
For the third article in a row for this series, I decided to work backwards for my baking blog to sneakily use it as an opportunity to talk more about a movie that would have otherwise been relegated to a few lines in a wrap up. This month, I was excited to see this movie that reunited the main aspects of one of my favorite movies - In Bruges. Martin McDonagh was back behind the helm, writing and directing, and Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were set to star. While it was obvious the setting and story would be different, I had high hopes that the dark comedy would still show through this movie. Thankfully, I wasn’t wrong. And when I remembered frequently seeing a small loaf of bread on their table during meals, I decided to make the executive decision that it was Irish soda bread. I wanted to try a new recipe and I am still relatively unfamiliar with bread, so it just made sense in the moment.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan
Director/Writer: Martin McDonagh
Released November 4, 2022
Showing in theaters
Despite there being almost no similarities between Banshees and my beloved In Bruges, it did fulfill the role of spiritual successor. This film takes place on a teensy island off the coast of Ireland and centers on a pair of friends - Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson). One day, Colm makes a decision that utterly baffles Pádraic: that he doesn’t want to continue being his friend. He just doesn’t like him anymore. Did he do something wrong? Nope. Did he make him mad? Not really. Quite frankly, he thinks his time could be used better - why waste time with pointless talk when he could fill his hours composing music. Without getting too descriptive, things escalate in ways Pádraic never saw coming.
The movie is creative and hilarious in surprising ways. Despite being a seemingly drab landscape, there’s a quiet beauty to it that counteracts the dissolution of a relationship and some mental unravelling. It’s a contrast that has a similar effect to Bruges, and something I’d be excited to see play out in other films going forward. It goes a bit off the rails in the final third of the movie, but I think my uncertainty about the ending has to do with some emotional whiplash that I wasn’t anticipating. Farrell and Gleeson play off each other perfectly, Keoghan is (surprisingly) delightfully odd and Condon pulls the whole story together with emotional depth and refreshing moments of honesty. To fully appreciate Banshees, it’s best to go in knowing as little as possible. It’s a unique film in a world of remakes and adaptations, and it’s admirable in that alone. But combine that with some excellent performances, and it’s a stand-out.
Another stand out? This soda bread. I cannot say how easy this was. It’s all of seven ingredients, the majority of which probably reside in your pantry on a regular basis (the only item on the list I had to intentionally purchase was some buttermilk). Whisk the dry, whisk the wet, combine and knead for just a minute and that’s all the effort you have to put in. The recipe recommends using a cast iron skillet, but I was excited at the opportunity to bake in the gorgeous dutch oven I got and had yet to use. The result was a rich, buttery tasting product that fell in between the texture of a biscuit and standard white sandwich bread. This will become a staple for me, and I love the opportunity to make something so simple at home and avoid buying bread full of preservatives and ingredients I can’t pronounce. It’s a win-win for sure.