It’s also the characters that give this town such a rich feeling. Really, this is a film about a small town where everyone knows everybody, and everything about their business the subtle character development and relationships changes are more important than the events that happen. I can safely say I have never before seen a film about a billboard dispute in a small town.
I think what I like best about this movie is the sheer unconventionality and originality that went into crafting the story. Mildred and the police force stand two opposed forces on the battleground of Ebbing, Missouri. Tensions rise and Mildred finds herself at odds with almost everyone, from the disgraced Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell, “Vice”), to her ex-husband Charlie (John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”), to Father Montgomery (Nick Searcy, “The Shape of Water”). All of the townsfolk wish Angela’s murder was solvable, but there isn’t enough evidence to move forward. The whole town knows Willoughby is dying from cancer, however, and they’d prefer it if Mildred took down the billboards and just grieved quietly. Desperate for answers, Mildred approaches Red Welby (Caleby Landry Jones, “Heaven Knows What”), an advertising man, and asks him to put up an advertisement on three billboards outside of town asking Ebbing police chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson, “No Country for Old Men”) why no one has yet been arrested. Months after her daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton, “Pokemon Detective Pikachu”) was raped and murdered, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand, “Fargo”) is still without answers as to what happened or why. “Those billboards aren’t gonna bring her back, Mildred.” When this film came out in 2017, it was actually my pick for Best Original Screenplay, and while it lost that award to Jordan Peele’s “Get Out”, I honestly think this film might still deserve the title a bit more this script is just so tight and nuanced.
McDonagh knows how to play with your emotions and get you to really care about characters and situations you otherwise wouldn’t have, and never has that been more on display than in this film. There are scenes in all of his films where I laugh hysterically, but there are also scenes in this film and in “In Bruges” that have made me cry. The characters populating his films are frequently lowlifes or thugs, the situations they find themselves in can be uncomfortable, but the emotions that McDonagh is able to wring from these situations is pretty incredible.
I remember reading a review for one of McDonagh’s films a while back, and whoever wrote that review called McDonagh “delightfully un-politically correct”, and that’s a perfect way to describe his films.
I think McDonagh has an incredibly unique voice, and he tells stories that no one else really can. I have enjoyed Martin McDonagh’s films ( “In Bruges”, “Seven Psychopaths”).