Review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh

For those of you who have never set foot virtually into this space, welcome! This is my blog, which serves as an online diary and digital archive of everything I’ve watched, read, and experienced in the past few years. Recently, it has become a source of income for me, and a crux as I faced unexpected unemployment after an opportunity I was told I had fell through. Feel free to click around if you liked this post.

In addition to this become a vital income source while I’m unemployed, I’ve been actually catching up on my content game. There are so many movies, television shows, and books I’ve watched and read throughout the years but never had the chance to review, so while I’ve had the free time, I’m dedicating more time to catching up on these reviews.

Some are literally years old, so it’s a fun adventure going through my notes and drafts to see what I thought all those years ago and then revisiting the movie/book/show now in the present day. It’s kind of like a mind map to see how your brain has shifted after time and how you’ve experienced the world impacts how you view things.

Three Billboards is a movie I did watch a few years back and had notes on. When I found this draft, it was the perfect excuse to revisit the film, as I remember that it was quite good.

So let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much, as I know you’re probably here for the review and summary portion of this post.

After a violent crime happens, the mother of the victim decides to draw attention to the case.

This movie begins with tragedy: in the town of Ebbing, located in Missouri, Mildred is angry and grieving. Her teenage daughter was raped and killed brutally seven months prior, and Mildred is watching how the police basically aren’t doing anything and are dragging their feet.

She takes matters into her own hands and rent three billboards by her house to draw attention to the case and its lack of movement. The local police chief, Willoughby, who is called out on one of them, stops by her house to try and get her to stop what’s she doing, but she refuses and stands her ground against him. He even dropped the fact he has cancer in this confrontation and is actively dying, but she denies him what he wants.

The people in this town want them gone though. One police officer, Jason, tries to intimate the guy who owns the billboard to get them taken down, but this fails. When Mildred’s dentist says something to her about it, she drills a hole in his thumbnail, and this gets her sent to the cops. Willoughby starts coughing up blood though and lands himself in the hospital.

We also learn that Mildred’s son Robbie and ex-husband Charlie also don’t fully agree with her actions. Turns out right before Angela was raped and killed Mildred and her had an argument. Mildred told her she hoped she would get raped, and that happens, probably leading to even more guilt from her. Charlie also drops that Angela had asked him if she could live with him, but he said no.

One of Mildred’s friends is arrested by Jason in an attempt to get her to stop. Willoughby also commits suicide due to his illness, and Jason assaults the guy who owns the billboard. He then promptly gets fired, as his new boss saw everything. Willoughby’s wife delivers a series of letters he wrote to people before he died, and he mentioned in his to Mildred that he didn’t kill himself because of her.

He also paid for the billboards for a month, but then someone commits arson and destroys them. Mildred is rightfully angered by this and throws Molotovs at the police station, but it turns out Jason is inside reading his own letter. He gets out with Angela’s case file. Mildred gets away with this, but Jason is also placed in the same hospital room as the guy he assaulted and he apologizes.

The billboards are restored after this. As Jason is released from the hospital and goes to a bar, he hears a guy raping a girl the same way Angela was found. He writes down the license plate and scratches the guy to get a DNA sample, then does nothing when the guy beats him up.

As Mildred goes on a date with the guy who provided an alibi, her ex-husband appears and apologizes for burning down the billboards. Mildred is upset because she thought it was the police, calls off the date, and the guy gets the wrong idea and leaves pretty upset himself.

With Jason, he discovers the DNA sample is not a match. The guy was also overseas and has proof. Jason and Mildred team up anyways to kill the guy, and Mildred confesses she set the police station on fire. Jason replies that he already knew, and they head off not knowing what’s next for them.

Overall Thoughts

Returning to this movie after all of these years, I can see how it stands the test of time. It feels like a classic and isn’t too dated at all, which means that one day it might indeed be considered one by a future generation.

It doesn’t offer clear cut answers for what we just witnessed on the screen, but that’s okay. We don’t always need answers, and while the film ends on such an uncertain note, there’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel from what we just witnessed.

That said, I’m glad I returned to this movie. It’s written really well and the acting performances are some of the standouts overall. There are elements of black comedy to cut through all of the serious notes throughout the film, and it’s quite the gem from 2017.

Go watch it if you haven’t already and want to experience a great film. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re interested, you’re probably going to like it.

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