In bruges

Aisling Franciosi goes on a heart-rending quest for revenge, while Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are two hitmen in hiding.

[The Artist](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/dec/22/the-artist-film-review) fame stars in this surreal yet weirdly believable French [black comedy](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/14/deerskin-review-jean-dujardin) about a man obsessed with a coat. The thriller [In Bruges](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/18/drama.thriller) showcases the writer-director’s darkly comic style perfectly, with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson (also paired in The Banshees) as bickering hitmen holed up in the touristy Belgian city after a job goes wrong. [The Banshees of Inisherin](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/05/the-banshees-of-inisherin-review-martin-mcdonagh) due in cinemas on Friday, Film4 has scheduled Martin McDonagh’s three previous films for your consideration – [Seven Psychopaths](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/07/seven-psychopaths-review) follows this movie, while [Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/04/three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-review-frances-mcdormand-martin-mcdonagh) is on Thursday. [immersive drama](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/20/night-of-the-kings-review-prison-drama-ivory-coast) throws us into a jungle prison in the Ivory Coast where the convicts rule. [moving version](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/16/loving-review-civil-rights-tale-marries-heartfelt-drama-with-too-much-restraint) of their tale revolves round Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga’s exceptional performances as the devoted pair. [delicious drama](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/mar/31/dvdreviews.drama) of backstabbing in the theatre world could equally apply to the Hollywood that produced it, with an ageing actress sidelined by a younger one. Georges (Dujardin) blows all his money on an expensive deerskin jacket and then takes up residence in a mountain hotel, where he conceives a plan to rid the world of every other jacket. Roman’s story of ancient monarchs and criminal antiheroes is a fascinating mix of oral tradition, movement, song and role-playing, in a film that borders on the mythic. He plays a man of few words, reluctantly in the spotlight; while she shines with optimism but, being Black and female, is more aware of the dangers they face. There’s the usual astounding array of celeb cameos (Usher is an usher; Christoph Waltz waltzes), Tina Fey has a blast as a prison guard, and Bret McKenzie pens more nimble tunes. Set in 1825 in Van Diemen’s Land, AKA Tasmania, during the so-called Black War, it’s a brutal, harrowing tale following Irish convict Clare (a heart-rending Aisling Franciosi), married with a baby and forced to serve a rabble of racist colonial soldiers. In the process, Clare finds common ground with her Indigenous guide, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), whose people are facing genocide.