Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a drama film, released in 2017. It is written, directed, and produced by Martin McDonagh (In Brudges). The main actors and characters are Frances McDormand (Mildred), Woody Harrelson (Chief Willoughby) and Sam Rockwell (Dixon).
The movie won two Academy Awards, for the Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and the Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell) and was nominated in numerous categories.
The plot revolves around a mother who tries hard to make the authorities solve her daughter's murder after seven months of no arrests by renting three billboards. She wants the justice to be served. But that is not the main aspect of the movie, it is just the central unfortunate event this whole story is based on. The movie expresses more deep stories and emotions related to all the characters involved in the plot, but still makes you wonder what's the resolution of the central event.
The director shows great knowledge of human deeds and emotions. You might be surprised how much he pays attention to the details and gives the viewers the opportunity of making their own conclusions. There is no mystery when it comes to those conclusions, though. The details are subtle, well composed, but pretty obvious if you pay close attention. This concept doesn't ruin the whole structure of the movie, or makes it boring. On the contrary, it gives you the chance to see what is really going on under the surface of characters' inevitable actions that are in perfect harmony with how unconscious they are when it comes to themselves and people around them.
It describes the law of action and reaction very well which can be applied even to the mixture of relative factors that make someone's life and destiny. The characters are responsible for their actions, but not fully capable of essentially understanding them. Their dysfuncionality and pain prevents them from seeing a bigger picture. So, they seek the most obvious thing to dull the pain and anger – revenge. (Mildred and Dixon)
That is one side of the spectrum. On the other hand, if there wasn’t another perspective (thanks to Chief Willoughby) the whole story would be totally unreal and pointless. This is the most important clue in order to understand the message this director wanted us to receive.
Nothing grows in the dark and usually the worst enemy you could have is yourself.
In my humble opinion, this is a very good movie, but not an excellent one. The actors are amazing, the plot makes you stare at the screen, there are scenes that make you feel sensations in your body, some make you cry, but the realization of the last third got me a bit disappointed. All of a sudden the storyline appeared to become too much of a “black and white” picture. It definitely makes the point more clear and comprehensible, but I‘d rather it went with its natural flow in a more subtle way, just like the rest of it. That’s the reason I don’t find this movie being a work of art, but it is still a very good one and definitely worth watching.