Three Billboards Outisde Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

An Oscar bate film of this type, well put together, loaded with stars, at lest somewhat topical in subject matter, has to be trying to say something, has to have a thesis. Doesn't it? I don't know if there is a particularly deep underlying message to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, other then that the agenizing frustration of grief is just that, agenizing frustration, especially when there is so much you still don't know about why your loved one died.

Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) teenage daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton in flashbacks) was raped and murdered by the side of a country road and seven months later the local authorities are no closer to solving the crime then when it happened. Out of pain and frustration Mildred rents three derelict billboards near her home and has emblazoned on them "Raped While Dying", "And Still No Arrests?", "How Come, Chief Willoughby?" This provocative act ignites strong passions in her community, with locals dived in loyalties between the grieving but prickly mother, and the beloved local Sheriff (Woody Harrelson) who happens to be slowly dying of pancreatic cancer. Willoughby himself is frustrated by the situation, but with no suspects and the blood samples recovered matching no one on any accessible criminal database, the case has hit a dead end, and there is not much that he can do about it. Tempers flair, local prejudices and dirty laundry come to the surface, things escalate and there is plenty of pain, and also some healing.

An admirable film in some ways, its well acted with an interesting underlying conceit, but also feels like its trying to hard too telegraph its own importance. The mixture of drama and dark comedy feels about right and it's nice to see a film set in a place we don't see that much of, in this case the Missouri Ozarks. I think its likely Ms. McDormand gets her second Oscar for this. ***1/2