Three Billboards Film Analysis

Regarding alternative voices given in Three Billboards, with Mildred as a woman of rage and featuring supporting characters of color standing up against the injustices of the town’s law enforcement, McDonagh neatly establishes the narrative as the marginalized, fighting “against the emblems of the white male patriarchy” (Phillips). Indeed, the billboards represent grief that Mildred has weaponized as “a means of taking on the law and assorted men,” including a threatening stranger, a vigilante dentist, and an abusive ex-husband, who “collectively suggest another wall that has closed Mildred in” (Dargis). Dixon is infamously known as the police officer who tortured a black man in custody, and the marginalized population of Ebbing had been simmering

Towards the end of the film, Dixon acquires the DNA of a potential match for Angela’s killer after he overhears a stranger in a bar bragging about raping a girl and subsequently starting a physical fight with him. Although it turns out the stranger is not Angela’s killer, Dixon tells Mildred, “I know he might not be your rapist, but he’s still a rapist.” Both characters then set out to track down the stranger together and contemplate killing him during the drive. Whether or not Mildred ends up killing the rapist, it is her decision to take matters into her own hands and pursue him that fulfills Mildred’s fight for justice for victims of sexual violence. The issue of violence against women ties into the film’s message of the ineffectiveness and corruption of law enforcement. Mildred states that the intention of her billboards is to “focus the attention” of the police as they are too busy punishing people for crimes that are much less serious and harmful than what happened to her daughter. Even Dixon is only able to truly contribute to the case after he is taken out of his role as a police officer. In turn, Dixon as a corrupt police officer exemplifies the film’s acknowledgement of police brutality as well as prejudice in law enforcement and the American Midwest. Dixon’s abuse of his position of power is both referenced and directly shown throughout the first half of the film. It is mentioned that the officer tortured a black man in custody, and he later throws advertising agent Red out a window, this being after Dixon had also previously made homophobic comments towards Red. It is only after Dixon is fired and severely injured from Mildred’s attack on the police station that this deuteragonist is able to sincerely apologize to Red and truly use his detective skills for justice. Beyond Dixon, further prejudice in the small American Midwest town can