At first glance, “In Bruges” appears to follow in the footsteps of Guy Ritchie’s thrilling dark comedies. However, it turned out to be something so much more.

Martin McDonagh’s first feature film as a director contains great performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two Irish hitmen, named Ray and Ken respectively. After a hit goes terribly wrong, the two men are ordered by their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to go into hiding. While the older, gentler Ken decides to enjoy the town and go sight-seeing, the hot-headed Ray simply sulks and wishes he could be somewhere else than in Bruges.

The film offers a beautiful depiction of the town, and I found it almost impossible to understand why Farrell’s character hated the place. He couldn’t stand the beautiful canals, wondrous art or even a relic from the Crusades which supposedly contained drops of Jesus’ blood.

However, this film has much more depth than just a dark comedy. Ray and Ken are in hiding because during their last job, Ray accidentally kills a little boy in one of multiple scenes in which the audience does not know whether to laugh or cry. Farrell is wonderful to watch as he displays such sad emotion while struggling with the guilt of his crime, and Gleeson is fantastic as you can see how he hurts for his young partner.

The climax comes together for an exciting, sad, yet oddly funny ending.