3 BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI-Stars Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson Rates 5 Stars

Ebbing, a small rural town in MO is the setting for this extraordinary film that covers a broad plain of emotional territory.  Mildred Hayes (a powerhouse performance by Frances McDorman) is the mother of a murdered teenage daughter who seeks justice that has been a long time, a long time coming.   She pays for 3 large billboards that call out the town's Sheriff Willoughby (a wonderful Woody Harrelson) for failing to make progress finding her daughter's rapist & murderer.  The large billboards are blood red with large black lettering of few words. The signs spur media & focus back on this unsolved case.  The billboards ignite more than renewed interest in the case.  It codifies an alignment of good & evil, justice & injustice.  Jason Dixon (a superb Sam Rockwell) is a racist comic book reading cop who takes sadistic pleasure torturing "people of color" & pistol whipping gays.  The sheriff pays Mildred a visit after the billboards garner attention. He tries to assuage her frustrations.  Willoughby confides he has cancer.  Mildred surprises him by saying she knows. When he asks why are you calling me out she says the buck stops with him and that he won't be of help after he's dead.  However, this proves false.  Willoughby is at the core of the town's decency.  He pumps goodness posthumously through the hearts of others by leaving individuals letters offering hope, compassion & understanding.  Dixon's character metamorphoses the most peeling back layers of hatred & racism.  Mildred remains a fierce & determined mother fighting for justice for her daughter.  Mildred takes her fighting too far; assaulting teens & throwing Molotov cocktails.  She's not intimidated by a priest, a bully or authority.  She still has a son at home (Lucas Hedges). He's struggling with his own grief.  Her ex (John Hawkes) has left Mildred for a 19 year old beauty.  He was an abusive husband & cruel parent.  The entire supporting cast is sensational.  Peter Dinklage plays a guy with a kind heart & a soft spot for Mildred.  Sandy Martin is marvelous as Dixon's mother.  She's passed her DNA of bigotry & hatred to her son.  Yet, Dixon bears strong love for his mother which spills over into empathy & remorse.  The noticeable musical score underlies the emotional arch of the film.  The theological overtones by the film's British dir/screenwriter Martin McDonagh (IN BRUGES) paint an intricate mural of good v. evil.  The gorgeous dimwitted 19 year old ingenue summed the essence of movie brilliantly, "kindness begets kindness".   There's a lot more to be said for this oversized work of genius that ebbs and flows with the flux of being human.