After watching the 2017 Golden Globes, I naturally wanted to see “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” due to the film winning 4 awards. At this moment I am happy to say that Billboards deserves the praise that it has received thanks to factors such as excellent acting, story, sound design, and imagery.

 Billboards was written, directed, produced by Matin McDonagh, also it was distributed to theaters by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film’s story centers around three billboards outside a small town that have begun to advertise a striking message to the town sheriff, in sequence the billboard’s message reads: “RAPED WHILE DYING, AND STILL NO ARRESTS? HOW COME CHIEF WILLOUGHBY?” Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is the woman responsible for the message, which she made due to her frustration with law enforcement not finding her daughter’s killer. Eventually Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) is informed of these billboards by Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), and in time the entire county becomes aware of Mildred’s message.

Billboards is a tale about pure rage, whether it be out of loss, vengeance, or in Dixon’s case – impulse. Due to the film’s dark themes (murder, rape, racism, etc.) this movie may not be for everyone, but it is still quite relevant to this day and age that is ripe with conflict. Additionally, Billboards also features scenes of really believable gore that can easily disturb the squeamish, the most notable scene for me being the one that takes place at the hospital.

The actors involved in this production do a wonderful job of making their characters (most of which are jerks) believable, and worth sympathizing with. Without a doubt, McDormand’s portrayal of Mildred was definitely one of the greatest aspects of the film, no wonder why she won a Golden Globe for it.

Carter Burwell composed the score for Billboards, which features music from Joan Baez, Monsters of Folk, Townes Van Zandt, and the Four Tops. The music helps convey the emotions present in each scene, during certain I couldn’t help but get goosebumps when certain tracks started.

Once more I will restate that “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” isn’t for everyone, and I say this mostly due to some of the views that it holds (I bet a lot a people in the South hate this film). But ultimately I enjoyed this movie, it gave me a lot to think about and delicious drama to observe.

Pros:

• Themes
• Performances
• Visual and Sound design

Cons:

• It’s easy to hate some characters
• It can be depressing/draining to watch

Score: 10 out of 10