Months have passed since her daughter’s rape/murder and nobody has been charged. So, Mildred Hayes rents three, old and unused billboards that lead into her very small town of Ebbing, Missouri, and puts up her message. Directed at Police Chief William Willoughby, the signs ask him why the case is still unsolved. Mildred’s purpose is to embarrass him and the police department into action.
Mildred is frustrated and helpless. Her controlled rage roils when anyone gets in her way. Her raw grief is palpable. Police Chief Willoughby, who is open, sympathetic, and dying of cancer, feels her pain. His deputy, Dixon, a racist, homophobe and mama’s boy, ultimately learns to respect her angst.
As the story unfolds and the depth of these characters revealed, good and bad, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI exposes the aching heart when closure is unattainable, and demonstrates the inadequacy felt by those who are expected to have answers, and don’t.
To think, this is a dark COMEDY!
With perfectly-timed acerbic barbs laced with obscenities, sharply clever and achingly truthful dialogue, applaudable and cringe-worthy violence, and extraordinary acting by Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is sure to be a classic cult film.
Written and Directed by: Martin McDonagh.
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Željko Ivanek, Caleb Landry Jones, Clarke Peters, Samara Weaving, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri