Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and In Bruges director Martin McDonagh reunite for Banshees of Inisherin

Several first-look images have been released for The Banshees of Inisherin, which filmed on Achill and the Aran Island of Inishmore last summer, and comes to cinemas this autumn.

Film fans are hopeful the two leading men will share the same onscreen chemistry they did when they played hitmen sent to the Belgian city for a contract killing. It’s the first time the two Dubliners have worked together since that 2008 film.

Set on an island off the west coast of Ireland, the movie tells the story of two lifelong friends, Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm abruptly decides to end their friendship.

With the support of his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon), who along with the local policeman’s son Dominic (Barry Keoghan) has her own qualms within the small island community, a confused and devastated Padraic attempts to reignite their relationship. But when Colm delivers a shocking ultimatum, events start to escalate.

First images from the movie have been released in advance of the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month. The glitzy festival is regarded as an early launchpad for an awards-season run.

It’s the first time McDonagh has filmed a movie in Ireland, though many of his plays have been set here. The director’s last movie, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, won Oscars for its lead stars Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell.

McDonagh has revealed he wanted to bring his two leading men back together for what he describes as “a break up story” about their friendship.

“The pendulum swings wide with Brendan,” Farrell told Vanity Fair of working with his co-star again. “From the tenderness that he’s capable of to the godlike wrath that he can exude if needs be. He’s always digging, always asking the big questions.”

The film was shot on location on Achill Island in Co Mayo and the Aran Island of Inishmore throughout last summer, with the dramatic western landscape looming large in the first stills from the movie.

The Banshees of Inisherin, which is set in the fictional island in 1923, opens in cinemas this autumn.