Three Billboards explains, after months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move by painting three signs with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Dixon, an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated.
I loved every moment of this film to the acting, to the music to the set…I loved everything about this film. If I read the synopsis of this film I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it; yet a friend of mine said it was good so I trusted him and went to see it with friends (my film geeks).
Once you begin watching, you become engrossed into the world and the time this film is set. The acting in this film is amazing; you really feel for these characters and have a connection with them. You feel sorry for Mildred Hayes as she just wants justice for her daughter who she misses greatly; she does what most people would do if they had the determination. Another character we become attached to and connect with is Willoughby; this character has cancer and as a spectator we feel for him as cancer is still happening today and most people have been affected by this horrible illness. What is more emotional is that this character takes his life as he doesn’t want his wife and children to suffer with him as he gets worse. This is a very brave thing to do, but while watching it this became shocking and upsetting. You gain a connection with this character and want him to fight on as you don’t really want to see him go. Yet his death makes people change with the letters he wrote before he died. These letters spark a change in all the characters in different ways. For Mildred Hayes it makes her keep fighting for find the man to begin with but at the end it makes her see that she should still try and find that man but needs to let go of some of her angry and accept that not everything can be solved.
Also a letter for Dixon, makes him see what change he needs to make. To begin with we don’t partially like this character as he is portrayed as a bit of thug who isn't very nice. However, as the film/narrative develops and he is given his letter from Willoughby we see a change in his character and he comes across as a more sympathetic character that he want to do well and believe he should have happiness.
Music was used to great effect in this film. The music makes scenes more emotional to a greater effect. There are many moments in this film where there is just silence. This silence has a huge impact as normally the silence occurs when something has just happened; the most effective silence is just after Willoughby's death. As an audience member you get caught up in the emotion of what has just happened.
This film ends on a cliff-hanger as which is frustrating as you want to know what is going to happen to all the characters and if anything will resolve. Although it shows how invested you become in this film as you want to know what is going to happen. The resolution can then be anything you want but you still want to know for certain.
I would definitely recommend everyone to watch this film as it takes you on a journey and is just amazing to watch for all the reasons ive mentioned about and more.
