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****
Dir: Martin McDonagh (15 115 mins)
Frances McDormand is on superb form as a woman avenging her daughter’s death in this barnstorming neo-western from the skilled wordsmith and director Martin McDonagh. The Irish playwright and director previously brought us the excellent In Bruges and the quizzical Seven Psychopaths, but this is his most assured work to date, laced with humour, violence and ornate, muscular dialogue. Mildred’s (McDormand) daughter was murdered over a year ago, the trail has gone cold, and local copper Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), beloved by the community, seems to be doing nothing about it, until Mildred puts up three large billboards on the way into town to deride the local police force. Willoughby is battling cancer but seems a good man, his deputy Dixon (played with relish by Sam Rockwell) is a hotheaded idiot. The plot twists and turns, veering in tone from taut drama to small-town comedy and back again with the steely but warm McDormand at its centre, spitting out McDonagh’s picaresque dialogue with aplomb. While the freewheeling structure may confound some, it proves one of its strengths; you care for the characters, get to know them and as the stakes rise higher you hope they survive. Strong Oscar-worthy storytelling, well executed by all involved.
Opens January 12