A strong competitor for the 2018’ Oscar, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri portrays a contemporary Western in its most entertaining form, and, despite the investigation of a tense crime, it manages to make the public solely responsible for the moral judgment of the shown events.
At the film, after months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) – an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence – gets involved, the battle is only exacerbated.
Image Source: IMDb
In the crime drama, the acting of Frances McDormand, in the role of Mildred Hayes, is also surprising. To draw attention to the population, after having his daughter raped and murdered, she decides to rent three billboards on a deserted road in the city, to expose the authorities’ disregard about the investigation of the crime – which has exciting repercussions and, in fact, run away from the cliche of movies that belong to the same genre.
It is her, practically alone, who leads the whole story and, with an exciting performance, makes the drama seem much more real. In addition to a strong character, Frances represents all the oppressed women who have cried out against abuse, sexism and misogyny in times where the female accusations gained strength at the United States.
With MANY mind-blowing sequences, the Three Billboards’ script mixes tension and humor in a thought-provoking way – without leaving out the important messages the movie wants to get through.
Without the classic battle between good and evil, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri brings rich characters, who make history much more real. As the movie progresses, it is impossible not to get involved with the story of the main characters and to cheer – or not – for them.