Directed by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges; Seven Psychopaths) and starring Frances McDormand (Fargo; Mississippi Burning; Burn After Reading; Hail, Caesar!), Woody Harrelson (Seven Psychopaths; The People vs. Larry Flynt; The Messenger; War for the Planet of the Apes; The Hunger Games; Now You See Me), Sam Rockwell (Seven Psychopaths; The Green Mile; Cowboys & Aliens; Iron Man 2; The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).

Drama / black comedy, 115 mins, 12+

Set in a rural Missouri town, the story is set around Mildred Welby (Frances McDormand) and her determination to catch her daughter's killer and bring him to justice. Seven months after the killing, she sells her former husband's truck to pay for three billboard advertisements on the outskirts of town, convinced that the police could be doing more to catch her daughter's killer and that they would do more as long as the killing remains in the public eye.

While most townsfolk sympathise with her, some disagree with her methods. She receives a house call from the local priest despite not attending church services any more, she has an experience while visiting her dentist, and various others, including Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) who is terminally ill but sympathetic to her search for justice.

But it is Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), a young police officer, with whom she has the largest battle. He has a penchant for violence and represents the "old school" police, with regular homophobic and racial undercurrents in much of what he says and does.

The film brings together the director (Martin McDonagh) with Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell with whom he worked on his previous film Seven Psychopaths, and Frances McDormand takes on a role not too far removed from Marge Gunderson in Fargo. This time out, though, the result is that much better, with Frances McDormand playing a distraught yet fiercely determinined mother. With the various sub-plots going on - involving her son and former husband, an advertising agent, a dwarf and others - the character development is one of the strongest aspects of this riveting drama in which the black comedy evokes comparisons for McDonagh with the Coen brothers (who directed Fargo).

The darkly comic drama has plenty of twists throughout the two hours screen time, and offers a really good sound track.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won four awards at the 2018 Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture - Drama. ​