Movies usually play it safe. They give us a clear hero, a clear villain, and a nice little bow at the end to make sure we sleep better. Then there is Tres anuncios en las afueras. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s kind of mean. Honestly, it’s one of the most polarizing films of the last decade because it refuses to give the audience what they want: easy answers.
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the film—officially titled Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri—landed in 2017 and immediately started fights. People loved it. People hated it. It won Oscars, then people argued about whether it should have won those Oscars. If you haven't seen it, or if you only remember the memes of Frances McDormand looking like she’s about to fight a wall, you're missing the point of why this story keeps coming up in film school debates and late-night Reddit threads.
The Core of the Conflict
Mildred Hayes is angry. That’s an understatement. Seven months after her daughter Angela was raped and murdered, the police haven't found a single lead. So, she rents three decaying billboards.
The messages are simple. "Raped While Dying." "And Still No Arrests?" "How Come, Chief Willoughby?"
It is a direct, public attack on the local police department. But here’s where McDonagh gets tricky. Chief Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson, isn't some mustache-twirling villain. He's actually a decent guy who is dying of pancreatic cancer. He’s doing his best, but his best isn't enough for a mother who had to bury her child. This creates a friction that is uncomfortable to watch. We want to support Mildred, but we also feel for Willoughby. Life isn't a superhero movie where the "bad cop" is always a cartoon. Sometimes the system just fails, even when the people inside it are trying.
The Problem with Jason Dixon
Most of the controversy surrounding Tres anuncios en las afueras centers on Sam Rockwell’s character, Jason Dixon. He’s a racist, violent, dim-witted police officer with serious "mommy issues." He has a reputation for torturing Black prisoners. By all accounts, he’s a terrible human being.
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Then the movie tries to redeem him. Sort of.
Critics like Angelica Jade Bastién argued that the film handles the topic of racial violence with a bit of a "clumsy hand." Dixon gets a redemptive arc because of a letter left to him by Willoughby. He survives a fire, he gets a "moment of clarity," and he teams up with Mildred. For many viewers, this felt unearned. How can a guy who threw a man out of a second-story window just... decide to be better?
But if you look at McDonagh’s other work, like In Bruges or The Banshees of Inisherin, you see a pattern. He loves the "unredeemable" character. He doesn't think Dixon becomes a saint. He just thinks Dixon is a human being capable of change, however small and pathetic that change might be. It’s a cynical view of grace. It’s also what makes the film feel so grounded in a weird, heightened reality.
Breaking Down the Visuals and the Script
McDonagh is a playwright first. You can tell. The dialogue in Tres anuncios en las afueras is sharp enough to cut glass. It’s rhythmic.
Mildred’s house is across from those billboards. The visual language uses that distance constantly. We see her looking at them through windows, reflecting on the choice she made. The color palette is dusty and tired—browns, oranges, and the stark, violent red of the billboards themselves. That red is the only thing that looks "new" in Ebbing. It represents her fresh, bleeding grief in a town that has already moved on.
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Frances McDormand’s performance is a masterclass in stillness. She wears a jumpsuit like armor. She doesn't wear makeup. She doesn't try to be likable. In an industry that constantly tells actresses they need to be "relatable," McDormand chose to be a force of nature. It’s a performance that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, and frankly, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. She brings a specific kind of Midwestern grit that feels authentic, not like a Hollywood caricature.
Why It Remains Relevant
We live in an era of public accountability. Social media is basically a giant version of Mildred's billboards. When we feel the "proper channels" have failed us, we go loud. We go public.
Tres anuncios en las afueras captures that desperation perfectly. It shows that anger is a double-edged sword. It gets things moving, sure, but it also burns everything down. Mildred burns down the police station. Dixon gets scarred. Willoughby dies. There is no "happily ever after" here.
The ending is the most "McDonagh" thing about the whole movie. Mildred and Dixon are in a car. They are heading to Idaho to potentially kill a man who might—or might not—be a rapist. They aren't even sure he's the right guy.
"You sure about this?" Mildred asks.
"Not really," Dixon replies.
"Me neither. I guess we can decide on the way."
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And that’s it. Cut to black.
It’s frustrating. It’s brilliant. It forces the audience to sit with the ambiguity of vigilante justice. If they kill him, are they heroes? Or are they just more of the same violence that took Angela away? The film refuses to do the thinking for you.
Practical Takeaways for Film Lovers
If you want to really "get" what this movie is doing, don't just watch it once. Here is how to approach it for a deeper understanding:
- Watch for the Letters: The movie is structured around three letters left by Chief Willoughby. One to his wife, one to Mildred, and one to Dixon. These letters represent the "ideal" version of Ebbing, while the billboards represent the "reality."
- Track the Fire: Fire is a recurring motif. It represents uncontrolled rage. Mildred uses it. The billboards are victims of it. Dixon is burned by it. Notice who gets burned and why.
- Contextualize the Creator: Watch The Banshees of Inisherin after this. You'll see the same themes of stubbornness and the consequences of being "stuck" in a small town.
- Ignore the "Redemption" Label: Don't view Dixon’s journey as a redemption. View it as a shift in perspective. It makes the movie much more palatable if you realize the filmmaker isn't asking you to forgive him, just to observe him.
The legacy of Tres anuncios en las afueras isn't about being "right." It’s about the cost of seeking justice in a world that is inherently unjust. It reminds us that grief is a monster that doesn't care about your town's reputation or your local hero's cancer diagnosis. It just wants to be heard.
To dig deeper into the world of Martin McDonagh's storytelling, start by comparing the screenplay of Three Billboards to his early stage plays like The Lieutenant of Inishmore. You'll find that his fascination with violent, grieving protagonists didn't start in Missouri; it’s a career-long obsession with the limits of human forgiveness. Pay close attention to the way he uses dark humor to mask genuine tragedy—it's the signature move that makes his work both difficult to watch and impossible to ignore.