Hot take: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

'Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri' is a meditation on vengeance, redemption, skewed gender relations and the complacency of the police in contemporary small-town America. Never a straightforward revenge story, this film of shifting emotional allegiances provides twists and turns and little in the way of resolution. Terrific performances by Frances Mcdormand and Sam Rockwell -- who both play deeply flawed people that see a little of themselves in each other despite being enemies -- propel the narrative forward, even when the plot twists make no sense. Poetic shots of the landscape paint a picture of desolation and tight shots inside the houses reflect the smallness of the mindsets within.

The film very much plays out like an operatic tragedy and is postmodern in the telling: the director's hand as puppeteer is visible. This might be the film's biggest drawback as it hinders full emotional engagement on the part of the spectator. Where the film does work is as a portrait of rural America, building up to a pretty damning picture of overall moral decay.

Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy

Language: English

Runtime: 1h 55min

Year of release: 2017

Streaming Platform: N/A

Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.