After seven months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at...
WHAT I LIKED: It has widely been said that 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,' is a film that will have you laughing one minute and crying the next, but I don't think that you can really appreciate how affecting it is in both of those regards until you actually see it, as I can't personally think of any film that has ever balanced such hilarious comedy with unrivalled touching emotion quite so successfully. Honestly, this brilliant piece of work left me an absolute mess - tears rolling down my cheeks throughout whilst in absolute hysterics at the same time, and that is one truly incredible and very unusual thing to achieve simultaneously without each element detracting from each other.
The credit there unquestionably lies with the hugely talented writer Martin McDonagh, who takes the witty humour of his previous works and uses it to build these characters and show their ingrained bitterness and hatred in a comedic light. This is after all a film that's really all about rather belligerent and angry folks finding love and peace within themselves, and without the humour there they may not feel so likeable, and their arcs may feel a little corny or contrived. Thanks to the script however, they really don't, and instead these portrayals feel like real people who you can connect with and care about, and whose arcs deeply affecting and have a beautiful message behind them.
This connection to the leads is also of course massively aided by their performances (each and every one of which is oscar-worthy) where Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and particularly Frances McDormand all deliver what I believe to be the defining performances of each of their brilliant careers. Match that with a gut-punching story and you've got yourself a film that already earns a spot up there with my personal favourites, and is likely to remain my top film of 2018 for quite some time, if not the entire year.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Maybe the third act does lose some of the touching emotion as the thematic messages start to round themselves off.
VERDICT: One of the best-written films I've ever seen, 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,' is the perfect blend of comedy and emotion where each of those things beautifully compliments each other and makes for one of the most deeply affecting films out there. Just wow.
