“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” directed by Martin McDonagh

“Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” is a crime drama film directed by Martin McDonagh. It premiered in 2017 and won many awards, including two Oscars, which Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell took home for their acting. The American Film Institute also regards the film as one of the top 10 of 2017.

Despite these accolades, the film can be difficult to watch due to the weight of grief, rage and regret that Frances McDormand embodies as the protagonist Mildred Hayes, whose daughter was raped and murdered seven months before the film opens. The first scene features Mildred driving down a foggy country road and noticing three abandoned billboards. She nervously chews on her fingernails as she backs up her car to take in the three decayed signs.

A Mother’s Grief

Mildred’s grief causes her to rent the three billboards near her home, which she uses to call out the town sheriff:

Raped While Dying

And Still No Arrests?

How Come, Chief Willoughby?

Frances McDormand in MacDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri”

Mildred’s deep sorrow is evident to everyone who passes the road, as her accusations against Sheriff Willoughby are ablaze in red with black text. This outward sign of her pain does more than ruffle a few feathers. Many in the town try to get her to take them down. Some are upset that she blames Willoughby. Mostly the townspeople don’t want to be bothered during their daily commute by the horrible circumstances of her daughter’s death.

Rage and Pain Explode

In truth, the people of Ebbing have gone on with their lives after the heinous crime committed against Mildred’s daughter, Angela. This understanding is what leads Mildred to rage against her town. She is incredulous that they can move on as if nothing happened. Not only was her daughter killed, but the murderer has not been found. This removes any chance of acceptance and closure viewers may wish for Mildred.

Angela’s mother takes out her rage on several characters in the movie, including a well-meaning priest and a dentist who underestimates Mildred’s resolve. Viewers may understand Mildred’s anger against her neighbors. However, MacDonagh reveals early in the film that much of the mother’s rage might stem from another place.

Regret Over Last Words

After several dramatic outbursts, some of them violent, Mildred looks in her daughter’s old room. Viewers are given a flashback of the day Angela died. Mildred is fighting with her two children, angry with them for various things. Eventually, she refuses to let Angela use her car. She yells to her, “Why don’t you just walk Angela? Why don’t you just walk?” Her daughter yells back, “I will walk. And you know what else? I hope I get raped on the way!” Mildred replies, “Well, I hope you get raped on the way, too.”

Lucas Hedges and Kathryn Newton as Mildred’s children, Robbie and Angela

MacDonagh’s choice to immediately end the flashback with Mildred’s nasty response to her daughter and cut to the mother looking into the dark, empty room signals the heaviness of regret of their last time together. Mildred must blame herself for everything that happened that day, which makes moving on from the loss of her daughter even more challenging.

“You ain’t her.”

About halfway through the film, Mildred plants colorful flowers around the billboards, trying to beautify her controversial memorial to Angela. A doe appears and Mildred is moved by the lovely animal. “Hey, baby,” she says. The doe looks up at the second billboard. Mildred responds, “Yup. Still no arrests. How come, I wonder. Because there ain’t no God and the whole world’s empty and it doesn’t matter what we do to each other? I hope not.” Mildred sits down and asks the doe, “How come you came up here outta nowhere looking so pretty? You ain’t trying to make me believe in reincarnation or something, are ya? ‘Cause you’re pretty, but you ain’t her. She got killed and she’s dead forever.” Then she smiles. “I do thank you for coming though.”

Frances McDormand as Mildred encountering the doe

A minute later the doe scampers away, leaving Mildred alone again, which causes Mildred to cry, the first time viewers have seen her really break down in tears.

Resolution

The remainder of the film focuses on the other damaged people in the town of Ebbing, Missouri, and how they either help or hinder Mildred with her quest to find her daughter’s killer. “Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” is, at its core, a look at how those most affected by a loved one’s death are living in a different world than those who are removed from the tragedy.

Real-World Impact

Mildred’s refusal to back down even in the face of threats has inspired many real-life advocates to stand their ground. Many groups from all over the world have adopted Mildred’s strategy and rented or created their own billboards to speak out against injustice. The most famous incident was a response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, which took place on February 14, 2018. The activist group Avaaz rented three vans painted like Mildred’s billboards and drove them around Marco Rubio’s office. They read:

Slaughtered in School

And Still No Gun Control?

How Come, Marco Rubio?

Three rented vans that the activist group Avaaz drove around Marco Rubio’s office in 2018
Credit: NY Daily News

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is a dark film, but it is director Martin MacDonagh’s willingness to go into the darkness, into the messy bits of human nature, that allows for such a deep exploration of loss and our response to it.