Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director: Martin McDonagh.
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell.
This black comedy is, principally, about how grieving and angry mother Mildred deals with the fact that the police haven’t managed to make any arrests or progress in relation to the case of her daughter’s rape and murder.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri seems to be critics’ current favourite and is performing well at the awards ceremonies. However, it is far from being perfect.
What starts off being a film about a mother dealing with the anger at her daughter’s killer still wondering free quickly evolves into a path to redemption for a racist cop whose eyes are opened up by a letter left by his deceased boss. Structurally, many will think the film is flawed. Others won’t take lightly to the casualness with which racist and homophobic jokes and comments are delivered.
Frances McDormand’s turn as Mildred is impeccable, incredibly nuanced and honest. Her portrayal of a mother grieving her daughter who was murdered in a vile crime is flawless. She’s not just dealing with the grief of having her daughter unfairly taken from her. She also deals with the feeling of guilt for her possible hand in the tragedy.
In a flashback we see how Mildred refused to lend her daughter Angela her car as punishment for smoking too much pot. In the same scene, Angela fights back by saying something along the lines of “fine, I’ll walk there and probably get raped on the way”. Not knowing that that is exactly what will happen, Mildred claps back with a “I hope you do”.
Her guilt makes her angry at the police, especially Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), for not making any progress in catching her daughter’s murderer. As a last resort and to bring the police department’s incompetence to the public eye she pays to have a message put up on three billboards outside the town where she lives – Ebbing, Missouri. Hence the title of the film. The billboards cause a great stir within the community.
Frances McDormand’s performance, which has already landed her with many awards, is finely accompanied by stellar performances from the supporting cast. Woody Harrelson delivers a very realistic portrayal of a chief cop who is close to dying without having solved the case and given the mother some closure. Sam Rockwell, also one of the favourites in the run up to the Oscars, plays a racist cop who, in the final act, looks to redeem himself by trying to catch the killer.
> Naomi Round