A chance to cut is a chance to cure

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2018)

Mildred puts the three billboards up on a disused road in Ebbing to hit at the man she thinks, incorrectly, is responsible for her daughter's rapist and murderer never having been caught. She is a hardened and occasionally violent woman with huge eyes that reveal the depths of her suffering, even if the rest of her only seems invested in causing the suffering of other people.
"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" is basically about hurt. It's about trying to deal with the hurt by hurting others. It's about taking the hurt upon yourself, to try to stop it before it grows, as it inevitably will. It also shows that when we take our hurt out on big targets, we end up hurting other people, who may or may not deserve it.
The dialogue is, as always, great from the playwright Martin McDonagh, who remains one of few filmmakers whose every film should be cause for celebration. It's not a surprise that he has great actors like McDormand wanting to work for him; this could well be another Oscar nomination from her.
Everybody in this movie is hurt one way or another and they all try to deal with it, mostly by spreading it around. The problem is that some hurts are so big we don't know who or where to aim ourselves. But somebody has to pay.
Right?