An Incredibly Powerful Movie!

Rating: 9/10 (14 March 2018)

I REALLY have to say how this film just hit the ball straight out of the park! THREE BILLBOARDS is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking films I've seen in a long time. Director Martin McDonagh has delivered an incredibly raw and real movie. His directing and writing are both frankly awesome! He directs an absolutely brilliant cast but also writes an amazing script. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is a masterpiece in dramatic writing. It's a very talky script, almost like something from the Cohen Brothers but carries real emotional weight and grit. There is room and backstory for every single character and the film becomes perfectly fleshed-out. Obviously, this was a film about a mother's search for justice but it was more about grief and how people deal with loss, it's also a powerful reminder that there are thousands of stories just like this and (I think) urges that we take care of eachother. The film was about as raw and real as you can get, in a disturbing and quite depressive way. It's no walk in the park, but the way in which the story is told is just SO powerful and moving. The plot is simple, but keeps an even pace and DOES grip. You get a perfect look at each character and how they feel and think. This however, is totally in debt to the jewel of a cast and I have chosen the three main standouts: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson.
Frances McDormand gives an absolutely titanic performance as the film's tortured heroine Mildred. She is beyond convincing and is totally authentic. McDormand plays a woman TOTALLY consumed by grief, and who (quite understandably) cannot see past her quest for justice that has taken over her entire life. It's a very emotional performance with McDormand TOTALLY giving it her all. It's the way she delivers her lines but also her facial expressions that make the performance SO alive and vivid. Without a doubt, she has earned both her Bafta and her Oscar. Sam Rockwell delivers a truly epic performance as well as the racist Officer Dixon. He begins as a moronic bully, who you actually grow to really loathe. Someone, who totally abuses their position in society and becomes more of an armed thug than a officer of the law. However, after several events he undergoes a drastic character change and becomes soft-spoken, more caring and you actually grow to really like him. Rockwell is extremely convincing as he portrays all of these emotions and gives a really strong performance. Woody Harrelson is another strong, but frankly heartbreaking performance in this film as Chief Willoughby, a man suffering with terminal cancer. Harrelson definitely gives one of his best performances as Willoughby. He says it all with looks, showing real pain and sadness and becomes a character that we really care about.
Both the acting and script move the film along to it's ending. The ending is curious and rather inconclusive but when I left the cinema, I thought that it HAD actually ended where it should have. Obviously, people will compare the main Oscar movies and say which is better, in this case: THE SHAPE OF WATER VS THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. Here's my opinion, the superior film is without a doubt THREE BILLBOARDS. The performances and plot is just on another level, but I HAVE to say that in terms of enjoyment, SHAPE OF WATER wins for me, primarily because, though I REALLY admired this film, it did leave me a little depressed and with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth due to the brutally tragic plot. However, this film is incredibly powerful and has really earned it's nominations and wins.
I don't watch or like horror but this is the film that should have been called MOTHER!