This Scene From ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ Is Going Viral (And Will Break Your Heart Into A Million Feckin’ Pieces)

There are a lot of beautiful moments in The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy that is now streaming on HBO Max. There is (spoiler alert) the crushing moment when Colin Farrell realizes his beloved donkey Jenny is dead. There’s the touching moment where Brendan Gleeson helps his ex-best friend get home after he takes a beating from the local police officer. And then there’s the scene that has recently been making the rounds on Film Twitter: Kerry Condon very gently rejecting Barry Keoghan’s earnest romantic advances.

Some context is needed to fully appreciate this moment. Condon’s character, Siobhán, is the no-nonsense sister of our protagonist, Pádraic (Farrell). She’s likely the smartest person living on this remote, Irish island, and she’s more than sick of the drama between her brother and her brother’s ex-BFF, Colm (Gleeson). And she certainly does not like that said drama means her brother has been spending more time with the island’s resident idiot, Dominic Kearney.

This is where Irish character actor Barry Keoghan comes in. Keoghan plays Dominic as loud, brash, clueless, and annoying. Dominic has been temporarily banned from the local pub for “bothering the women,” and when he’s finally allowed back in, he eschews social norms by drunkenly harassing the band. Pádraic is embarrassed to be seen with Dominic, but he doesn’t have many other friends. Plus, Pádraic—a nice guy until the end—does feel sorry for Dominic, as he knows the young man is being sexually and physically abused by his sadistic father. So Pádraic offers to let Dominic spend the night, much to his sister’s chagrin.

The first time Dominic hints that he’s interested in Siobhán, both she and the audience brush it off as a meaningless come-on. After all, it has been established that this man makes a habit of “bothering” women in bars. But the second time around, Keoghan imbues his performance with such earnest sincerity, that even Siobhán—a woman who usually has no problem cussing out any person who wrongs her—feels her heart break for him.

First, we watch as Dominic visibly builds up his courage. Keoghan uses his whole body as he shifts and fidgets. He nervously wipes at his nose, and self-consciously twists his fingers. And he stumbles over his words, delaying the actual ask for so long that it’s physically painful to watch.  “What I was wanting to ask you was– something along the lines of– Should’ve planned, this really. What I was wanting to ask you was… You probably wouldn’t ever want to, I don’t know… fall in love with a boy like me, would you?”

Siobhán fixes Dominic with a look of gentle understanding, before she softly replies, “No, Dominic, I don’t think so, love.”

“Not even in the future? Like, when I’m your age?” Dominic asks, all hopeful and earnest. But Siobhán shakes her head in reply.

“I didn’t think so. Just thought I’d ask on the off-chance,” Dominic says. Then he delivers the most heart-breaking line of the film: “Well, there goes that dream. I best go over there and do whatever that thing over there I was gonna do was.”

A clip of the scene was shared by Twitter user @christiansbale on Monday, and it’s been making the social media rounds.

Unfortunately, the next time the audience sees Dominic, it’s when his lifeless body is being pulled from the lake. Although Pádraic tells his sister that he believes Dominic slipped and fell, earlier in the film, we heard about someone who killed themselves in the lake. It’s implied, therefore, that Dominic took his own life, perhaps pushed to the edge by his father’s abuse and Siobhán’s rejection.

But at least Keoghan gave his character a moving last scene to be remembered by. You might recognize the 30-year-old Irish acting from his distinctive performances in movies like The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Green Knight, Dunkirk, and even his deleted scene as the Joker in the most recent Batman movie. You might even see Keoghan at the 2023 Oscars for his performance in Banshees—he already has Best Supporting Actor nominations for the Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards. Justice for Dominic.