An Effective, Dark, Dense Probe into the Heart of a Small-Town Controversy

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2018)

A hard-nosed mother, at the end of her rope, rents a trio of billboards to remind local police that they still have no suspects in her daughter's seven-month-old rape and murder. Very Coen-esque, and not just in that it stars Frances McDormand, who's appeared in half a dozen of their films and is actually married to one of the brothers. Most notable is the way director/screenwriter Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) gets us familiar with dozens of rounded, colorful characters, fleshes them out and makes us care about how their paths intertwine. Or, in most cases, how they collide, break apart and ricochet into the next unsuspecting object. This really gets going in the second act, when a core character makes a profound decision that results in a solid hour of nonstop chain reactions. But it's not all dark gristle and angry monologues. Often, it works as an effective black comedy, which I realize is a tough thing to recognize after admitting it's about a rape investigation. Such tension-breakers are crucial, though, to keep us from getting too bogged down in the solemnity of it all, and to maintain a sense of momentum. Wonderfully shot, with plenty of time dedicated to exploring the beat-up small town at the center of all the drama, it's also expertly paced, brilliantly acted and continuously surprising. A deserved favorite for the Oscars.