Review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) by Colginator — 05 Jan 2018

After months without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) rents out three billboards (that are located outside Ebbing, Missouri) and puts up the message “Raped while dying and still no arrests? How come, Chief Willoughby?” This causes mass outrage from an entire town of colourful characters who adore chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) including a “fat dentist”, a “lady with the funny eye” and Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) a man who recently built a reputation for himself after beating up a black suspect. Or as Mildred colourfully puts it, Dixon has recently entered “the n***er torturing business”. Is she in the right to put up the billboards? Is she helping draw attention on her daughter's murder case? Or is she just a rude woman who should stop fighting people she shouldn’t consider her enemies? Who knows, but she’s doing it anyway. And in a strange way when I watched her stand up against everyone in the entire town I was reminded a little of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Just like Atticus she knows she’s fighting a losing battle and that no matter what she does she will never be able to bring her daughter back. She also knows that it’s unlikely that her daughter's killer will ever be found. But none of that matters because this is just something that she believes is the right thing to do. McDonagh’s previous films (Seven Psychopaths and In Bruges) have always been strong at balancing dark humour with thought provoking drama. But unlike his other work, the comedy for the most part is much more nuanced, with more subtle performances and a stronger focus on character development. Though it does still have his distinct language which constantly strives to challenge Goodfellas and South Park for the most swear words per minute of screen time. Plus he’s assembled an incredible ensemble cast, all of whom know just how to deliver McDonaghs dialogue and are all memorable in their own way.

But the two standouts in the cast are definitely McDormand and Rockwell. It’s kind of surprising seeing McDormand play a role whose personality is so polar opposite to Margo in Fargo. Whenever she’s on screen she’s such a dominating figure and has a brashness to say whatever she wants, no matter how reckless it is or how much harm it causes. She’s also brilliant at delivering McDonagh’s language. At the end of it I was pretty sure that I’d enjoy watching an entire film of McDormand just going around town and swearing at people (which to be fair is kind of what I saw). This film might also be Rockwell’s greatest performance yet. He’s the image of the cop that Americans fear to see. The kind who thinks that his badge is an excuse to do whatever he wants and not have to face any consequences for it. He does so many hateful and despicable things in the film, but somehow Rockwell never lets you lose all hope for him. You always feel like he’s going to do the right thing in the end, even if he’s going to do a lot of wrong things first. At times hilarious, at others sorrowful and constantly thought provoking, Three Billboards is easily McDonagh’s greatest work. It’s a film that has a certain level of humanity and moral ambiguity that will continue to resonate long after you’ve watched it.