Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
for violence, language throughout, and some sexual references.
Reviewed by: Jeremy Landes
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Very Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
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| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Dark-Comedy Crime Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 55 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2017 |
| USA Release: |
October 7, 2017 (festival) November 10, 2017 (4 select theaters) November 17, 2017 (wide—590 theaters) November 24, 2017 (614 theaters) |
Murder of daughter
Alcoholic cop / DRUNKENNESS—What does the Bible say? Answer
police brutality
Arson and vandalism
Verbal abuse
Seeking JUSTICE in an often unjust world
UNDERSTAND that no matter what you may do or not do in seeking justice, God is the one who will provide ultimate true and final justice. Nothing escapes his notice. He knows every dark secret and thought. He hates sin and will punish sinners.
What is the FINAL JUDGMENT? and WHAT do you need to know about it? Answer
THE FEAR OF THE LORD— What is it? Is it important? Answer
What is the “ANGER OF GOD”? Answer
What is the “FURY” of God? Answer
What is GOD’S PROVIDENCE? Answer
What is the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD? Answer
What is HUMILITY? and WHY is it important to be humble? Answer
Angry, grieving mother / how to deal rightly with personal grief
“Anger begets greater anger”
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer
What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer
Does God feel our pain? Answer
ORIGIN OF BAD—How did bad things come about? Answer
Did God make the world the way it is now? What kind of world would you create? Answer
What is DEATH? and WHY does it exist? Answer in the Bible
What is ETERNAL LIFE? Answer
What is ETERNAL DEATH? Answer
Cancer patient
Where did CANCER come from? Answer
Dealing with loss of job
Suicide of husband
SUICIDE—What does the Bible say? Answer
If a CHRISTIAN commits suicide, will they go to Heaven or Hell? Answer
RACISM—What are the consequences of racial prejudice and false beliefs about the origin of races? Answer
| Featuring |
Frances McDormand … Mildred Woody Harrelson … Willoughby Abbie Cornish … Anne Sam Rockwell … Dixon Peter Dinklage … James Caleb Landry Jones … Red Welby Kathryn Newton … Angela Lucas Hedges … Robbie John Hawkes … Charlie See all » |
| Director | Martin McDonagh — “Seven Psychopaths” (2012), “In Bruges” (2008) |
| Producer |
Blueprint Pictures Daniel Battsek See all » |
| Distributor |
 Fox Searchlight Pictures, a sister company of 20th Century Fox, a division of The Walt Disney Company |
When a crime has been committed against your family, the human heart longs for justice or revenge. Characters in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” are engaged in a constant struggle to grasp satisfaction as compensation for their terrible loss.
Watching this movie is akin to slowing down for a couple hours to linger over the details of a bloody car wreck. Mildred Harris (Frances McDormand) was the single mother of two teens, until her daughter, Angela, was raped and murdered—her body mutilated by fire. Eight months later, Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) still has no evidence to catch the killer(s), so Harris decides to spur some action.
She purchases a month’s worth of billboard rights to display 3 messages designed to embarrass the police, and the whole movie deals with the fallout from her actions. Mildred begins feeling wrath from the people of Ebbing who don’t like the billboards, because the sheriff is well-liked, plus he’s dying from pancreatic cancer.
Her ex-husband threatens, and the surviving teenage son scorns her. Even a priest comes by to offer unsought counsel: “If you just attended church more…”
Despite a stream of uncomfortable, profane confrontations, the story holds interest because Mildred refuses to accept people’s actions against her. She may be wrong to humiliate the police, but viewers may also wonder what lengths they would go to find a child killer.
Turning the other cheek is not part of her ethos. She’s like a wolverine who’s lost a kit. Watching several confused, bitter people find creative/strange ways to destroy each other can be morbidly entertaining, and I kept remembering the Coen bothers’ “Fargo”—not only because of McDormand’s central performance in each, but also because the 2 movies’ musical scores were created by Carter Burwell. The plot cycle of violent circumstances also echoes several other Coen movies.
During a rare moment of awe and beauty, Mildred questions whether God exists. Though left unsaid, her angry words and actions throughout embody the oft-heard protest: “If God exists, how and why would He let evil happen?”
How can we know there’s a God? Answer
What if the cosmos is all that there is? Answer
What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer
Mildred is nothing like Job, who refused to curse God. She wants to curse God, blame others, and get some relief from her grief now—no matter how many people she must hurt.
For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” —Hebrews 10:30
- How can I know what is RIGHT and WRONG? Answer
- How can I discern whether a particular activity is WRONG? Answer
- What is SIN AND WICKEDNESS? Answer
- What is GOODNESS?
- What is RIGHTEOUSNESS? Answer
- REVENGE, love replaces hatred—read the story of a former Israeli soldier and an ex-PLO fighter who proved peace is possible—but only through Jesus Christ
- Goodness of God
What makes Mildred’s revenge attempts complicated is that the real killer of her daughter isn’t readily apparent, so her tactics just drag down many others caught up in the wake of her fury. Maybe the police should be doing more, but what? When you don’t know God’s love, how else should you respond when faced with terrible evil, like the murder of your child? Filmmaker and Irish playwright Martin McDonagh doesn’t offer us God-informed answers.
I thought the movie strained credibility several times with its too-tidy series of coincidences, leading the audience to believe one thing—only to pull the rug out later. The movie delights in Mildred’s facial expressions and profane one-liners in response to conflict, because this appeals to our sense of righteousness. We root for her because she’s been hurt so badly.
If you enjoy revenge fantasies like “The Patriot” or “Burn After Reading” (also starring McDormand), you might enjoy “Three Billboards…,” but I would still caution you that this kind of story can make your soul sick.
About hope
If you’re reading this review, you may have faith in Jesus, so you understand that death is not the end of life, but it’s the beginning of something new (see eternal life and eternal death). All of the characters in this movie (unrealistically, given its Bible Belt setting) have little or no hope in anything eternal, so they’re ready to kill themselves and others to make their points.
The world may consider this entertaining, at the moment, but my guess is that many Christian viewers will leave theaters feeling like they’ve sat through emotional and literal carnage.
- Violence: Very Heavy
- Profane language: Extreme—“J*sus Chr*st,” “J*sus” (2), “Oh for Chr*st’s sakes,” “For Chr*st’s sakes,” “G*d-d*mn” (15), “Oh my G*d,” “Holy sh*t,” “h*ll” (10)
- Vulgar/Crude language: Extreme—almost 100 f-words (including “Altar boy [f-word],” “Any kind of boy [f-word],” “Neither is [f-word] 19-year-olds,” “Listen, you [f-word] beaner,” “You [f-word] pr*ck,” “Look at this [f-word] a**hole,” “You [f-word] pig,” “I ain't gonna [f-word] you,” “Maybe I was the one who [f-word] her when she was dying,” and 7 “m*therf****r”), “pr*ck,” “c*nt,” “b*tch,” “p*ss,” a**hole (2), a** (5), cr*p (4), s-words (25)
- Nudity: None
- Sex: Minor—however the sexual references are very heavy, including “I think that midget wants to get in my pants,” “They [f-word] her too?”, “I want to [f-word] her even more,” “That was a real nice [f-word],” “You got a real nice c**k,” and the other words mentioned above
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
The morality of what Frances McDormand’s bitter character is doing is constantly questioned. The entire cast is incredible, especially McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, as is McDonagh’s razer sharp dialogue. It explores the fact that no one is entirely good, or evil, but there is the potential for both. Our supposed protagonist does some pretty horrific things while trying to find justice for her daughter and a previously completely contemptible character finds redemption.
One of the most moving scenes is when he sees one of his victims who still shows love and care towards him and breaks down in tears at the realisation of his wickedness, a parallel with every Christian’s turn to Christ.
Ultimately, I thought this is a powerful and unforgettable film, although its gleeful foul mouth and mature themes may be too much for many to handle.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
The whole film was thought-provoking, as it tells us, to in the end, love everyone, no matter what they do, just as Christ does. So in many senses I can recommend this film, but use caution. The language, etc. Is there. If you curse, or do very violent this far, don’t watch this. Jesus is our only hope, God Bless, John 3:16.
If you have sexual issues don’t watch this, as well, as this film abuses the sacred gift of sexuality through a small talk to talk or more.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
The one positive message that did come through for me is that one cannot jump to conclusions. Mildred assumes violence by someone and then goes on a vengeance spree unjustly against this person, with tragic results. I think the movie also wants to show that people can have a change of heart. But otherwise, this cinematic product is interesting, beautifully filmed, but disappointing.
Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½