KMC Forums - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Didn't see a dedicated thread for the great 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - so thought I'd create one.

Recently finished watching this film. Extremely powerful, well-acted, and all-around extremely well-done film. I can see where all of the accolades are coming from. This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite films from 2017.

There are SPOILERS below - I don't know how to insert spoiler tags on this board - sorry about that:

The film definitely captured the insular, small-town mentality that I've seen in so many parts of the U.S. - i.e., a place where everyone knows everyone else's business, etc.

My favorite scene was one that hasn't been discussed much: When the priest went to visit Mildred Hayes (near the beginning) to try to get her to pull down the three billboards. However, instead of caving in, it was nice to see Mildred - in no uncertain terms - tell him off & compare the priesthood to a "gang" who stick together after one of them commits a heinous crime. And then, told him to get the $#$% out of her kitchen! Fantastic scene! I myself find organized religion hypocritical - for the most part. So, it's nice to see when one of these people get taken down a notch (even though it's just in a fictitious film).

I actually found Sam Rockwall's character of LE officer Jason Dixon disturbingly realistic. Just watch the news & you'll see evidence of people like that every day. The scene when he beat up that innocent sign maker, threw him out the window (which could easily have killed him or maimed him permanently) and then punched the female employee was heinous. The fact that he just got fired as a result of this was typical - these people in authority are always getting away with doing things like this & then getting a slap on the wrist as punishment. I.e., he got off easy - given the severity of what he did. What a P.O.S. scum-bag. Just because he tried to help Mildred later (by getting himself beaten up so he could get DNA of someone he mistakenly believed had committed the crime) didn't change what he had done earlier in the film - nor did it redeem his character.

It was interesting to me that many blamed Mildred Hayes for Chief Willoughby (Harrelson) killing himself. However, based on the suicide note he wrote his wife...and the note he wrote Mildred...I don't see this as the reason. As he said in the note to his wife, he was very ill & didn't want her to see him getting sicker & weaker. So, I feel he would have killed himself either way - even if the three billboards hadn't been put up. Of course, this was lost on many of the close-minded people in the town who had their heads up their collective butts.

I found it realistic that the crime still hadn't been solved by the end of the film. Because, IRL, many of these cases never get solved.