Three gigantic, bright red billboards proclaiming “Raped while dying”, “And still no arrests” and “How come, Chief Willoughby?” create conflict in a small southern town in the film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”. The film mainly revolves around Mildred Hayes, a single mother still grieving over the murder of her daughter, who has an agenda to seek justice for her daughter.
Writer and director Martin McDonagh combines the characters, setting, and plot to bring the town of Ebbing, Missouri alive on the big screen. Ebbing is your stereotypical small southern town complete with racist and homophobic cops, a singular dingy bar where everyone goes to play pool and a lack of confidentiality when it comes to medical news.
The characters fit straight into the setting, completing it by showing more of the town through their daily actions. All of that combined with the fact that some characters are referred to simply by descriptions or nicknames ties it all together to create that genuine small town feel.
A variety of unique camera angles are used to show all areas of Ebbing ranging from back roads to police stations. The movie initially shows off the billboards through the windshield of a car, but goes on to repeat variations of this scene showing the billboards, from multiple angles. “The incorporation of interesting and visually striking camera work truly set ‘Three Billboards’ apart,” commented senior Anna Banerjee.
Each location is shown from many different angles giving the viewer the full tour of ay building in Ebbing. This also makes typically bland setting of a small town interesting. “Some of the shots were very impressive and important in establishing the tone of the film,” remarked Banerjee.
The film shows partially comedic while still eye-opening view of many different, relevant topics. Controversial topics brought up in it range from military corruption, domestic abuse, rape, police brutality, homophobia and racial discrimination, even including a brief mention of depression and communism.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is shot through with stinging, sometimes breathtakingly direct commentaries about racism and policing in a community that even though it’s fictional, lies firmly within the orbit of Ferguson,” said Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post. Although corruption within the police force is a main aspect of the movie, both morally “good” and “bad” cops are shown. This leads the film to seem more like it is presenting all of the things wrong rather than taking a solid stance on any of the controversial topics.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is an unexpectedly emotional journey taken by multidimensional characters. The characters are followed through their many battles within their small town, resulting in a character based plot that showed many different aspects of controversial topics through eye-catching cinematography.
