I was initially hesitant about all the positive buzz around this film because while I liked In Bruges, from writer/director Martin McDonagh, I thought his last outing, Seven Psychopaths, was a masturbatory, meta-pretentious mess. Thankfully, McDonagh has written and directed one of the best films of the year in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film is a sweeping southern story about a woman named Mildred Hayes (Francis McDormand) who buys three billboards outside the eponymous town to shame the police, specifically its chief (Woody Harrelson), into solving her daughter's gruesome murder, which has since turned into a cold case. Hayes takes the police and town to task while they attempt to get her to remove the billboards through both legal and extralegal means.

McDonagh’s direction is simple and effective, but his writing is a testament to his history as a playwright because his scenes are dialogue heavy and character driven. The film is paced perfectly and escalates its tension logically. The film’s soundtrack is an effective mix of songs and a score that relies on Spanish-sounding steel guitar. The music really helps convey the film’s themes and emotions. The film is also filled to the brim with symbolism and subtext, especially in relation to violence against women in America, but also in regards to death, grief, and the moral question of vengeance. The American flag is everywhere in this movie and McDormand’s character almost exclusively dresses in reds, whites, and blues. Entire scenes are lit in backgrounds consisting of these three primary colors, and interspersed between these shots of “Old Glory” are some gorgeous wide angle shots of the American countryside. One scene worth mentioning for its efficacious and technically proficient poignancy is when Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) expresses his grief and explosive anger in a beautiful, long, unbroken take.