Gripping, humorous exploration of grief and score-settlement.

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2017)

2017 has been a banner year for movies, from Dunkirk to the outré "mother!" to this movie to...Oscar voters will have their work cut out for them. "Three Billboards..." should get a nod for Best Picture, Best Actor (MacDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell) and so on. Enough about the awards though, this film simply delivers.
It delivers a gut punch from the moment you empathize with Mildred (MacDormand) and her unending grief over losing her daughter in a heinous manner and the local constabulary's inability (or is it unwillingness?) to solve the case. Ebbing is a small town, everyone is comfortable. The deputy, played to an intolerant "T" by Sam Rockwell, throws his weight around and no one says much because the police has an overlarge presence here. Mildred rents three signs outside an access road to town with provocative slogans, one of them calling attention to the crime, the others aiming full-force at Sheriff Willoughby (Harrelson). Willoughby is dying of cancer, and the town rallies around him, rather than the angry and grieving mother. This division sets the stage for some great repartee, as Mildred takes everyone down, from the sheriff to the town pastor to the deputy to various locals.
We come to a moment where closure might be expected, but instead it's just another loose end that gets pursued by Mildred and the deputy. "Three Billboards" drowns us in pathos, chokes us in anger and helps us understands the dynamics of small town America. See it now before the buzz creates lineups.