Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
When my friend messaged me saying he wanted to see this, I thought that he'd sent me a series of typos.
I looked at the title and couldn't comprehend how those words made any sense together. But three months later, now this cracking film has finally been released in the UK, I understand. In the past six months I have been deeply disappointed by several films, especially ones I've eagerly awaited. I spend time after the film trying to convince myself why it hasn't shattered the time I've spent looking forward to them. But Three Billboards has proved to be the exact opposite. Like when I first saw it's title, I left the cinema a bit confused. But the more I think about it, the more I realise this film achieved everything I had hoped, and more.
Like any Martin McDonagh film, Three Billboards begins with a bizarre situation and then things happen as a consequence, that's literally it. The title summarises this situation; a grief stricken Mildred puts up three billboards questioning why there has been no effort to solve the brutal murder of her teenage daughter. The setting of the film clearly signals a link with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, as the billboards are positioned on a road now unused because of the highway. While Psycho deals with a sense of cabin-fever, and how isolation leads to insanity, Three Billboards isolates these characters and, thus, forces them to face moral judgement within the Republican microcosm of their small town. The trailer leads us to believe that this film will follow a violent string of events to an eventually violent end. The film subverts this, and uses violence to demonstrate how peace can prevail.
The best thing about this film is the character of Dixon, a racist police officer who almost definitely will have voted for Trump. Through Dixon, McDonagh takes the high road, and humanises a stereotype which many people, the world-over, demonise in the wake of Trump's presidency. His character development is impeccable, and if he wasn't constructed so well I don't know if he would have been pulled off so convincingly.
And on the flip-side you have Mildred, the film's heroine and my new favourite strong female lead. In a world where femininity is continually linked to weakness, Mildred demonstrated how motherhood, an intrinsically female experience, makes her a strong and defiant woman. To quote Kimmy Schmidt, females are strong as hell, and I left the film feeling extremely empowered by Mildred and her foul mouthed smashing of the patriarchy.
As if this wasn't enough, the film was laugh out loud funny, and fully passed the 6 laughs test (if you know you know). At points it could have also made you cry, particularly through Woody Harrelson's character who provides one of the many heart-felt plot twists along the way. Three Billboard's plot twists don't regard shocking reveals of murderers you'd never expect, because that isn't what the film is about. The plot twists concern people, and how people can surprise you despite whatever stereotype they adopt. \Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is an absolute gem in the cinema right now, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something funny, feminist, thrilling or heart-warming.
Like any Martin McDonagh film, Three Billboards begins with a bizarre situation and then things happen as a consequence, that's literally it. The title summarises this situation; a grief stricken Mildred puts up three billboards questioning why there has been no effort to solve the brutal murder of her teenage daughter. The setting of the film clearly signals a link with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, as the billboards are positioned on a road now unused because of the highway. While Psycho deals with a sense of cabin-fever, and how isolation leads to insanity, Three Billboards isolates these characters and, thus, forces them to face moral judgement within the Republican microcosm of their small town. The trailer leads us to believe that this film will follow a violent string of events to an eventually violent end. The film subverts this, and uses violence to demonstrate how peace can prevail.
The best thing about this film is the character of Dixon, a racist police officer who almost definitely will have voted for Trump. Through Dixon, McDonagh takes the high road, and humanises a stereotype which many people, the world-over, demonise in the wake of Trump's presidency. His character development is impeccable, and if he wasn't constructed so well I don't know if he would have been pulled off so convincingly.
And on the flip-side you have Mildred, the film's heroine and my new favourite strong female lead. In a world where femininity is continually linked to weakness, Mildred demonstrated how motherhood, an intrinsically female experience, makes her a strong and defiant woman. To quote Kimmy Schmidt, females are strong as hell, and I left the film feeling extremely empowered by Mildred and her foul mouthed smashing of the patriarchy.
As if this wasn't enough, the film was laugh out loud funny, and fully passed the 6 laughs test (if you know you know). At points it could have also made you cry, particularly through Woody Harrelson's character who provides one of the many heart-felt plot twists along the way. Three Billboard's plot twists don't regard shocking reveals of murderers you'd never expect, because that isn't what the film is about. The plot twists concern people, and how people can surprise you despite whatever stereotype they adopt. \Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is an absolute gem in the cinema right now, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something funny, feminist, thrilling or heart-warming.
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