Confused film, nothing special

Rating: 4/10 (22 November 2017)

The good: performances by Caleb Landry Jones, Sam Rockwell, and Lucas Hedges (despite not having much screen time.) There were some moments that were pretty cool and did some new things, but overall this film isn't worth much.
It is basically a string of mean people going along and doing mean things, to no end. Nobody learns anything, the little growth that does occur is quite forced, and a lot of it doesn't seem very grounded in reality.
The tone is confused, bouncing back and forth between Nickelodeon comedy and a dark drama, making it hard to take seriously. Woody Harrelson seemed to care so little about his voice-over work in the middle of the film, but that's understandable when the writers didn't seem to care much either.
The editing wasn't great and offered unclear communication at times. I don't know who picked Abbie Cornish for this, or anything, as she is an exceptionally poor actress.
I think we're supposed to be emphasizing with the main character, but that's hard to do when she's a callous wrecking ball. Making a film about a parent dealing with trauma of this nature is a great premise, but there's a certain humanity lacking.
I disconnected with this film when she didn't take the billboards down the moment her friend got arrested. I assumed it was a given- how could you let your friend rot away in jail while this futile ploy of yours is the single cause? And how was the friend OK with that upon being released? This is not a strong person, this is a petty and immature person who is seeking solace purely for selfish reasons. It is also completely overlooked that she is harming her still-alive son throughout the course of all this.
Finally, we have one scene with Mildred's daughter, who is the cause of all events that take place in the film. Not only was the actress incapable of carrying this scene, but it was also hard to believe she was the daughter of Mildred.
Overall, an unaware film that seemed to try to be catering to the current political climate.