Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Overview
After seven months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at Bill Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Jason Dixon, an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated.
My Opinion : For a film thats centered around one small thing, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri does not seem like an interesting film on the surface. But it grips you right at the very bringing as it takes the audience directly into the height of the action. One of the best things the film has to offer is its willingness to present us some seriously interesting characters. Mildred is a hard as nails single mother with a dark past who is out for blood to end the life of the killer and rapist of her daughter, prepared to do anything to achieve that specific goal. She may be fierce and badass and far from nice, but Mildred has a warm heart and is a respectable woman and heroin. Rockwell’s character is of a violent, inept, lazy and incompetent police officer who abuses his power and does nothing for the greater good. He finally changes completely in a particularly important scene of a movie where he reads a letter (no spoilers) which finally makes him realize what hes done, and honestly, we can’t help but hate and finally love the guy from start to end. There are a lot of other great characters but you get my point, being that this is a character driven drama which does remind me a lot about the type of stories and books english teachers made us read back in high school… The performances along with great writing is the main reason why the film works and why we’re so invested in it. Honestly theres so much to love about Three Billboards. Another quality of the film is its unpredictability which comes from how unique and original the film is played out which is a very recurring thing in Martin McDonagh’s filmography. Which adds suspense and surprise to the film. One problem I have with Three Billboards comes in the end ; when I watched it it honestly felt like the director didn’t really know where he wanted to go with it and it felt awfully confusing at times. But then again what has happened in that part of the story was confusing for the characters as well so it does make sense. I also would’ve loved if the film had one final scene left, but other then that, i’m giving the film a 8.9/10
