History Film / ThreeBillboardsOutsideEbbingMissouri

* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Dixon fails to notice that something is seriously wrong in the office (i.e. that Chief Willoughby has committed suicide) because he is listening to "Chiquita" by Music/{{ABBA}}. A more serious example happens when he returns to the police station late at night and fails to hear the phone ringing [[spoiler:(which is Mildred calling to make sure the station is empty before she firebombs it)]], and fails to notice that the station [[spoiler:is on fire]].

** James delivers one when Mildred accuses him of 'forcing' her to date him, angrily pointing out that he merely asked her out after helping her and that while he's aware he's not exactly many people's idea of a catch, she has no right to hold him in contempt considering that she's become so bitter, angry and hate-filled that she'd stoop to [[spoiler: firebombing a police station.]]

** Mildred desperately trying to forgive ''herself'' for the last words she had said to Angela, even apologizing to a deer which she personified as her daughter. To a similar extent, her gratitude to Dixon near the end of the film, despite blaming the cops for their incompetence for the entirety of the film.

** Dixon forgiving Mildred, despite still feeling that she is responsible for Willoughby's suicide.

* TheAtoner: Dixon upon reading Willoughby's letter to him. His first act after his HeelRealization is retrieving the files on Angela's case from the burning Police Department, receiving horrific injuries in the process.

* BlackComedy: Par for the course with Creator/MartinMcDonagh. Arguably this trope is less present here than in his previous movies.

** When said [[spoiler: new chief]] walks in and introduces himself to the assembled Ebbing Police, the desk sergeant asks him to prove who he is. The [[spoiler: chief]] acts like this an absurd request and doesn't even bother to show them his badge. Somewhat justified in that he had just seen [[spoiler: Dixon violently assault two people, and wasn't particularly impressed with the other cops, [[PoliceAreUseless who were actively ignoring it.]]]]

* BreatherEpisode: The day spent by Bill Willoughby with his wife and children. It ends tragically anyway.

%%* {{Greed}}: Red shows it asking for the one more installment earlier than it was due citing a formally interpreted clause. Within the ethics of this movie he must be punished as other characters are not motivated by the [[MoneyDearBoy material interest]] so [[DestinationDefenestration defenestration ensues.]]

* KickTheDog: The guy who comes into the giftshop and taunts Mildred over her daughter's death, commenting he wishes he'd been there to rape her himself.

%% ** Red is punished for his greed as he demanded more money for the extension of term of the rent of the billboards on a formal clause giving Mildred a short time to come up with the sum. That's why he is literally thrown out of the window.

** Willoughby's unwillingness to ever punish Dixon for anything seriously stunted him as a person and a cop, leading to a lot of the conflict in the movie. [[spoiler: Willoughby's suicide note combined with his firing ''nearly'' push Dixon in the right direction, but in a lot of ways it's too late; Dixon might be less violent, but he still never really confronts or grows past the "person of color-torturing" side of himself.]]

* OneWomanWail: Shown on-screen in the case of [[spoiler:Willoughby's wife, though it's muted as his DeadManWriting is narrated.]]
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Averted for nearly all characters. They generally lack material interests, tormenting one another for free. Once Red becomes specifically interested in money he is brutally punished.

* PoliceBrutality: No tortures are shown but this trope is invoked as a NoodleIncident in regard to Dixon and people of colour. We also see Dixon throw Red out of the window in a fit.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Abercrombie fires Dixon immediately after witnessing the latter [[spoiler:throwing Red out a window]] and is extremely reasonable when dealing with Mildred.

* VomitingCop: Dixon is nauseated by pictures of Angela's burnt body. His unfazed superior, chief Willoughby, sarcastically put his reaction down to a hangover.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Geoffrey, the dentist [[spoiler:who wants to press charges against Mildred]] is never mentioned again after [[spoiler:Willoughby is rushed to the hospital.]]
** Humorously lampshaded when Willoughby declares that neither he nor anyone else really cares about dentists.

** Willoughby himself states he found it amusing that Mildred drilled a hole in big fat Geoffrey's big fat thumb.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Bill looks remarkably hale and healthy for a terminally ill cancer patient.

* AlliterativeName: William Willoughby (though everyone calls him "Bill").

** Willoughby himself states he found it amusing that Mildred drilled a hole in the dentist's finger.

** Mildred spits on the dentist after drilling his finger.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The dentist [[spoiler:who wants to press charges against Mildred]] is never mentioned again after [[spoiler:Willoughby is rushed to the hospital.]]

** Somebody with [[spoiler:burns as extensive as Dixon's]] would not be placed in a shared hospital room, due to the very high risk of infection. [[spoiler:He would also not be discharged from the hospital after a mere couple of weeks - in reality he would require months of treatment and rehabilitation.]]

* {{Bathos}}: Just as the argument between Mildred and Charlie - with some appearances by Robbie - is getting heated, Penelope enters the house, wanting to know where the bathroom is.

* ClusterFBomb: The characters indulge in it often. Best case being Mildred as she drives by a reporter covering [[spoiler:the newly burnt billboards]]:
-->'''Mildred:''' This didn't put an end to shit, you fucking retard; this is just the fucking start. Why don't you put that on your Good Morning Missouri fucking wake up broadcast, bitch?

* PoliceAreUseless: Ironically, everyone ''except'' Sheriff Willoughby is, and he's [[spoiler: dying of cancer.]] The [[spoiler: new chief]] is clearly more competent than most of the department, but he still doesn't arrest [[spoiler: Dixon after being a ''firsthand witness to him throwing a guy out a window.'']] Really, it's hard to argue with Mildred when she says the cops are blatantly incompetent.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Despite his racist, thuggish personality, Dixon and his mother share a very loving relationship, to the point where she's visibly and loudly distraught [[spoiler:when he comes home almost beaten to death.]]

* EvilOldFolks: Played with for Dixon's mom. She is not the most kind-hearted but they get along reasonably well.

* RacistGrandma: Not actually a grandma, but old enough: Dixon's mother.
-->'''Dixon''': Things have moved on in The South!\\
'''Dixon's mother''': Well, it shouldn’t have.

* PoliceBrutality:
** Interestingly subverted onscreen as no tortures are shown (only invoked as NoodleIncident in regard to Dixon and people of colour).
** Only played with when Dixon throws Red out of the window. He is a policeman and he is brutal however it is not a good old torture behind the closed doors, he simply assaults a man in public as everyone could.

* BreatherEpisode: The day spent by Bill Willoughby with his wife and children. In this crapsack world it ends tragically anyway.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Averted for nearly all characters. In this crapsack world they generally lack material interests, tormenting one another for free. Once Red becomes specifically interested in money he is brutally punished.

* OhCrap: Charlie goes from taunting to apprehensive when he sees Mildred approaching him with a wine bottle, apparently ready to start a fight. [[spoiler:It ends up being a taut goodwill parting gesture.]]

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Somebody with [[spoiler:burns as extensive as Dixon's]] would not be placed in a shared hospital room, due to the very high risk of infection. [[spoiler:He would also not be discharged from the hospital after a mere couple of weeks - in reality he would require months of treatment and rehabilitation.]]

* DeadManWriting: [[spoiler:Chief Willoughby narrates is own suicide letter, as well as the ones he leaves for the other characters.]]

* DescriptionCut: The letter Dixon received ends with "you've had a run of bad luck, but things are gonna change for you. I can feel it."... just as a Molotov cocktail is thrown at the table right in front of him, making him ''[[FailedASpotCheck finally]]'' notice the police station is under attack.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** When Mildred reads [[spoiler:one of Willoughby's suicide notes]], he suggests that someone down the line will get caught bragging to a buddy over what they did to Angela. [[spoiler:Dixon overhears a man that previously threatened Mildred boasting to a friend over a crime he committed similar in nature to what happened to Angela, [[SubvertedTrope but it turns out]] [[RedHerring he is not her actual killer]].]]
** Dixon fails to notice the grief-stricken reaction to [[spoiler: Willoughby's suicide]] because he's preoccupied by listening to music on his headphones. Later, he fails to notice [[spoiler: the fire from Mildred's molotov cocktails burning down the station]] for the same reason.

* MolotovCocktail [[spoiler:Mildred]] uses several to firebomb the [[spoiler:police station]].

* WhatTheHellHero:
** [[spoiler:After giving an alibi for Mildred to keep her out of trouble for burning down the police station, James asks Mildred out on a date. She accepts mostly as thanks for helping her out, and she doesn't even bother changing out of her jumpsuit for it and is very disinterested the whole time until Charlie appears, at which point she asks to reschedule. James tells her to just forget it since she clearly doesn't want to be there, at which point she says he forced her on the date. James lays into her, saying that he may not be a great catch, being a dwarf, an alcoholic and a used car salesman, but she doesn't have room to look down on him being a perpetually angry gift shop woman who never smiles and who ''burnt down a police station''.]]
** Robbie gives a small one to Mildred about the billboards constantly reminding him of the details of Angela's brutal death (which he tried to avoid) over and over.

* OverlyLongGag: Dixon reading Willoughby's long and meandering letter to him [[spoiler:as Mildred throws firebomb after firebomb at the police station, the flames growing steadily larger.]]

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Albeit one that's only described in dialogue and only revealed as such later on. The audience (and Dixon) initially believe [[spoiler:the guy in the bar is describing him and his "buddies" raping and burning Angela, but it's later revealed he was in another country that's both "classified" and "sandy" at the time he was discussing.]] When Dixon points out he still did it to ''someone'', he's told there's nothing the Missouri police can do about it.

* BlatantLies: Mildred denying that she assaulted the dentist while her mouth is still numb from Novocain.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Averted with [[spoiler:Dixon on the Door Slam part. He reads Willoughby's post-mortem letter, and begins to take heart when he believed he would be a great detective, and that a great detective can’t get anywhere with hate, but can be more effective with love, which leads to calmness, which leads to understanding. Just as he was beginning to take Willoughby’s letter by heart, Mildred starts fire bombing the police station with Dixon inside. He escaped through the window, and survived his burns.]]

* CrapsackWorld: The overarching trope for this movie.

* AdultFear: You have an argument with your child, [[PartingWordsRegret say things you don't mean]] and you never see them again.

* MomentKiller: Just as the argument between Mildred and Charlie - with some appearances by Robbie - is getting heated, Penelope enters the house, wanting to know where the bathroom is.

* MuggingTheMonster: Someone in a group of Robbie's fellow students lobs a can of soda at Mildred's car when she's driving him to school. They come to regret it when she stops, walks up to them, and delivers a brutal GroinAttack to two of them in response.

* AntiHero:
** Mildred is a grieving mother who just wants justice to be found for her daughter who was raped and murdered. Sounds pretty heroic, right? However, her actions over the course of the film, while always understandable, become increasingly unsympathetic:
*** She's rude at almost the slightest provocation. She seems disdainful of James even though he is nothing but kind to her (see the WhatTheHellHero entry below for more about that). Even her relationship was strained with her daughter, as we see in the movie's only flashback. [[spoiler:In fact, the daughter apparently wanted to move in with her abusive father, Mildred's ex-husband, to get away from her. When she asks her son if this is true, he weakly says he doesn't know, confirming that it was true to Mildred.]]
*** She stoically rejects Willoughby's request to take down the harshly critical billboards even knowing that he did all that he legally could and is dying of cancer.
*** [[spoiler:She ''burns down the police station'' in a fit of furious retaliation after her signs are burned down. Although she tried to make sure no one was inside, calling the station three times, she still nearly killed Dixon (who couldn't hear the phone because he had earphones on). She almost destroyed all existing evidence of her daughter's murder and potentially dozens of similar crimes in a fit of rage and then later finds out that no one at the station had anything to do with the billboard fire and it instead was her husband.]]
*** [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, she agrees to travel with Dixon to Idaho to murder the man who had threatened her in the shop and was overheard confessing to a rape and murder. In a bit of potential CharacterDevelopment, however, she expresses that she may not follow through with the murder when they get there.]]
** [[spoiler: Surprisingly, Dixon becomes this after reading one of Willoughby's heartfelt suicide notes, taking his advice to heart and working very hard to catch Angela's murderer while never ''quite'' shaking off [[NobleBigotWithABadge his racism, stupidity, or propensity for violence]].]]

* OlderThanTheyLook: Charlie, the former husband of Mildred played by Creator/JohnHawkes.

* WouldHitAGirl: Dixon punches Red's secretary Pam in the face after she freaks out on him for attacking Red.
* WouldHurtAChild: Mildred beats up some schoolkids who throw a soda can at her car, both out of anger (and the tacit implication that they would/were bullies to Robbie.)