Let’s face it, sometimes life is absurd. Nothing works how it should and everything is a challenge. And sometimes life can be pretty grim, as well. There’s death, crime, and any number of other maladies in the world. But sometimes those two things combine to create humor, of all things. That’s what’s going on in the trailer for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The film stars Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes, a single mother whose daughter was murdered. Worse yet, the killer was never found. We know, this doesn’t sound funny yet. Hayes puts up the titular three billboards as both a plea for justice and an accusation of the local police department and Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) for not working fast or hard enough on the case. As Hayes grows more impatient she begins to interrogate and harass the locals, the police, and anyone else who gets in her way. We see it escalate and escalate until she throws a molotov cocktail into the police headquarters. Meanwhile, there’s a lot of profanity. Seriously, so much profanity. A description doesn’t do it justice, so watch the red band trailer for yourself:
Funnier while watching it yourself, right? This type of humor should be no surprise coming from writer/director Martin McDonagh, who also helmed In Bruges. There’s no exact release date yet, but the film is expected to land before the end of the year.