How else to explain the following exchange that takes place after Mildred has been taken into custody for assaulting a local dentist, who tried to intimidate her into taking the billboards down? The scene starts in an interrogation room. His movie seems designed to play for a red state, Trump voting audience. British playwright, screenwriter, and director Martin McDonagh tapped into this disdain for political correctness in Three Billboards. It’s been a steady drone for decades, but especially in the last couple of years there’s been a lot of talk about “political correctness run amok.” Our current president used this sentiment as a key plank in the platform that got him elected. The escalating war of revenge and retaliation over the billboards between Mildred and Dixon make up the crux of the action of the movie. The racist, homophobic Dixon has a reputation around town for torturing a black suspect while in his custody, a fact about which Mildred delights in taunting him. The other officers on the force do, too, but none more than hothead officer Jason Dixon. AND STILL NO ARRESTS? HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY?Ĭhief Willoughby is Bill Willoughby, and he naturally takes exception to the billboards. Big black letters on a fiery red background scream Mildred’s anger over the three billboards. She visits the local advertising company, run by a young hayseed named Red Welby. Driving home one day, she notices three derelict billboards and gets the idea to goad the cops, and, consequently, the rest of the townsfolk, into action. Mildred is a cauldron of rage because the local police force has made zero progress in finding Angela’s killer. The story, set in the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri, concerns Mildred Hayes, a grieving mother whose teenage daughter, Angela, was raped and murdered seven months ago. One actor, the great Frances McDormand, uses the only earnest element in the film – a meditation on intense grief – to craft a heartbreaking portrayal of a mother suffering intense psychological torment. It contains two outstanding performances, despite some of the dialog being utterly deplorable. The plot machinations, especially late in the film, become so creaky that several key points are unbelievable, even laughable.ĭespite all this, there are a few redeeming qualities to Three Billboards. There is a painful tone-deafness in how Three Billboards attempts to mix comedy and pathos. This is a nihilistic movie that delights in trying to offend. In actuality, it’s a movie that uses relevant social topics – namely police brutality and inaction – in a cynical ploy for cheap exploitation and shock value. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is the kind of movie that gets an Oscar Best Picture nomination because the people in charge think it’s gritty, meaningful filmmaking full of important social commentary.

Three billboards torrent