Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Review
GRIEF can drive a person crazy. In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Golden Globe winner Frances McDormand plays Mildred, a woman possessed by an all-consuming rage over the murder of her daughter.
Frances McDormand as Mildred
Her loss is intensified by the feeling that nothing is being done to bring the guilty party to justice.
She vents her anger by renting three massive billboards on the road leading into town.
She fills them with stark words: Raped While Dying, And Still No Arrests, How Come Chief Willoughby?
It is the opening shot in a war with the local police force led by Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and his dangerously dumb deputy Dickson (an excellent Sam Rockwell).
Repercussions spread like aftershocks but for all the film's savage violence and salty language it is also a tale of hope.
Characters that initially seem defined in black and white develop interesting shades of grey.
Redemption is possible and determination can bring results or at least a moment of peace.
Director Martin McDonagh has written a clever, gripping story brilliantly performed by McDormand whose expressive eyes show every thought and capture the depths of her pain.
It is a heart-rending, terrific performance.