Film Review: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

The Oscar season has opened and on 17 January, everyone interested had the opportunity to see a strong contender for multiple nominations at the arthouse cinema Central.
In collaboration with the Institute for English and American Studies, the film "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" by Martin McDonagh was shown. It is now the fourth film by the Irish screenwriter since 2006. Whilst McDonagh has built a reputation for extremely dark, sometimes absurd comedies such as "In Bruges" up until now, with this work one can scarcely avoid calling it his first drama. That the film is award-worthy was already proven at the Golden Globes in early January, where it claimed six nominations and four awards for itself.

In allusion to its somewhat unwieldy title, one sees three dilapidated billboards at the edge of an almost deserted road right in the opening scenes of the film. Whilst the beginning of the film presents us with a bleak and forsaken corner of the earth somewhere in the American Midwest, the image soon fills with hectic life, and the story behind these billboards reveals itself to the viewer.
Something terrible has happened in Ebbing, Missouri: the cold-blooded rape and murder of the young Angela Hayes. After the police struggle to find even the smallest clue to solve the crime, Angela's mother Mildred puts pressure on the police chief with three accusatory messages on those very billboards.
The characters of the film, above all the main character Mildred, played by Frances McDormand, and Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) offer considerable tension at the outset. Gripped by this dynamic, it would have surprised few viewers if Mildred and the police chief had met at the climax for a Western duel on a dusty main street.
Instead, a number of very contemporary themes unfold in quick succession, which McDonagh, however, only touches on superficially rather than addressing them in real depth. Anyone expecting this film to provide answers to today's social and cultural questions in the USA will be rather disappointed.
What the cinema-goer is offered instead is a fine drama. Whilst McDonagh never quite abandons his typical humour with edgy characters and some torrents of profanity and tirades, he does bring in considerable variety.
The essence of his story can perhaps be found in an earnest confrontation with very difficult human feelings: pain, grief, anger and hatred.
The three main characters Mildred, Chief Willoughby and the somewhat hapless police officer Jason, played by Sam Rockwell, each face their own particular challenges as the film progresses.
One may find some of the plot twists that McDonagh employs somewhat unwieldy, but ultimately a unique story and outstanding acting performances take centre stage. These are rounded off by the apt cinematography, which never pushes itself to the fore but lends support to the story at the right moments.

What remains is a film that does not easily fit into a fixed box. Dramatic elements alternate with situational comedy and coarse language, a surprising mixture that nonetheless works. A clear recommendation.

Lorenz Friedl