Three Billboards - From Guilt to Blame

"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" - one of those movies where the creators decided not to come up with a shorter title is often referred to by the first two words in its title, "Three Billboards".

In essence, the story is about a woman in rural Missouri dealing with the murder/rape of her daughter. It's not exactly about a grieving parent going on a mission of revenge like John Wick but a little bit similar in principle. It's similar in the sense that John Wick, an ex-hitman, did what he can (Killing enemies in crazy action sequences) to bring about justice. Mildred Hayes (Played by Frances McDormand) does what she can, or more than what she can to force the local authorities to bring about justice. (I know. That was a terrible comparison.)

The objective here is not to give a synopsis but to explore a relatable undertone that kept me focused to the very last minute of the movie. Mildred losing her daughter at first seems like a tragedy and we extrapolate this feeling  how good their relationship must have been by associating our own experiences of what it's like for a parent to lose a child. But as the movie goes on, we see that the relationship between Mildred and her daughter is nothing but a fairy tale. Mildred is not the perfect mother and her daughter is also pretty far from perfect. We can't expect much from a drunk, miserable, middle-aged woman who was married to a wife-beater. One can argue that her behavior is justifiable through what she's gone through and another can argue that she should have treated her children right regardless of all the bad circumstances. To be honest, who are we to judge?

Through the course of the movie we see subtle moments where the guilt she bares pouring on to the screen, for example the scene where Mildred says to her daughter that she will not give her car to her daughter to go out and that she hopes that she (the daughter) "gets raped". Of course she didn't mean that. But at the bottom of all the anger and pain, I'm sure she felt that it was she who is to blame.

The point to which we can relate here is that when people are weak and powerless, they blame others to cope with their inability to address guilt. The spotlight of the movie, the three billboards, are how Mildred decides to blame the nearest entity she could attribute this blame to, other than herself which is the police chief,  Willoughby (played by Woody Harrelson). What's sad here is that Willoughby is a nice and kind man, dying from cancer who has done what he can to help Mildred.

A wife-beater makes a wife miserable and emotionally damaged. The wife turns into an uncaring and reckless mother. The uncaring mother turns the obedient child to a reckless teen that wanders without adult supervision and gets raped and murdered. The loss of her child turns the already miserable mother into an even more reckless woman who hates and blames everyone but herself. Her recklessness makes the life of a good man, a father, a cancer victim, impossible to live. At the end of it all nothing good is achieved; Nothing but more misery. 

I don't understand the low ratings this movie has received. Except for the last scene where Mildred and the ex-cop she burned goes on a road trip to hunt a rapist murderer, I wholeheartedly believe that it was a great movie with exceptional storytelling. The cinematography was quite good with very contrasting and vivid colors that didn't interfere with the story but complimented it. Every actor did well in portraying their respective roles. If there was anything unfit in terms of acting it was the accent of chief Willoughby's wife (played by Kerry Condon). I found her to have a rather Irish accent and that didn't make much sense. 

In an abstract way, Three Billboards reminds me of "No country for old men".