A black comedy, because I can't think of anything darker

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2018)

3 Billboards
In a departure from our usual diet of super heroes and starfighters, we toddled off to see a movie called "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". It was in fairness my choice because I'd seen the shorts (Americans call it a trailer) and I thought it looked pretty funny in a bad language/knee-lifting tough-chick kinda way.
It is about a woman, Mildred, whose daughter was raped and murdered by person/persons unknown some 7 months previously, and who is despairing of the lack of progress in the hunt for the killer/s. Fair to say it is not your standard comedy fare. She berates the local law enforcement officers by taking out a lease on 3 billboards on a road less travelled and using them to query their efforts. Names are named; questions are asked.
The good burghers of Ebbing, Missouri are miffed, particularly given that the much loved Chief of Police (CoP) is mentioned by name. The CoP has significant problems of his own. In the interests of those who have not seen the movie, I shall not reveal the nature of these problems. Suffice to say they are resolved. He is married to an Australian of whom I was previously unaware.
Mildred's billboards attract media attention. News crews appear. Live crosses end badly.
Tyrion Lannister is in it too and he reprises his GoT panty-burgling persona. I hesitate to comment upon his success. But.....nah.
There is a really BAD cop (rBc) whose really-badness has clearly Freudian roots. One may ask, with some justification, "aren't they all?" but that would be a digression too far. He tortures prisoners but justifies it in an oddly correct way.
There is a priest who lectures Mildred on the morality of her billboarding and has pointed out to him that, as a priest, morality is something of a touchy issue, regardless of whether he was a touchy priest.
There is an ex-husband who is prone to violence and partial to young zoo keepers. Mildred too is prone to very significant violence. She is not a woman to be crossed. There is a son whose school life deteriorates as Mildred's war develops.
Is it resolved? Are murder(ers) found and justice visited upon them?
I shall not say.
Is it any good? It is so dissimilar as to be incomparable to the benchmark 'Starship Troopers' although both are morality tales. But yes, it IS good, and well worth a Senior's discount. And were we so blighted, worth a full price ticket (FPT)! High praise indeed.
There are genuinely funny bits in a comedy I'll describe as black because I can't think of anything darker.