Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

The newly written and directed feature by Martin McDonagh’s (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri provides a unique mixture of razor sharp dialogue, bold style and devastating heart that rightfully puts the film into Oscar contention. Three Billboards focuses on a grieving mother, Mildred (played by the wonderful Frances McDormand), after her daughter’s brutal death. In response to an agonising seven month wait with no hope of finding the culprit, Mildred hires out three billboards to spark the police into action. Frances McDormand puts in the performance of her career, completely subverting her early innocent roles in films like Fargo or Blood Simple. McDormand abrasive presence encapsulates the wonder of this film. In an effort to control her unbearable grief, McDormand constantly shows glances of that raw emotion bubbling below the surface only to be quickly cut off with a snarky retort. Her coldness prevails throughout, for instance in an effort to take down the billboards local Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) reveals he has cancer, with McDormand solely replying ‘Well it wouldn’t be as effective after you croak.’ Even with a stellar cast (Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell), Three Billboards feels all the more human, focusing on the frailty of human life, the murky waters of revenge as well as a cut-throat examination of parental grief. This has really has set the bar high for 2018 – let’s wait and see if this will be topped. One thing is for sure though – Three Billboards is well worth the admission ticket and then some.