Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Did Mildred agree to go on a date with James just to solidify her alibi, or did she have concerns that he might rat her out to the cops if she didn't go? Note she uses the word "forced" when they argue in the restaurant, so did she view the date as blackmail and that was what made her so grudging and hostile?
- Does Dixon have a crush on Red and that's what makes him so hostile? Note he brings up gay people to Dixon rather out of nowhere at the bar.
Award Snub: Martin McDonagh was assumed to at least be nominated for the Oscar for Best Director, but was given the cold shoulder by the Academy. The film was also the front-runner to win Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, but lost both (to The Shape of Water and Get Out respectively). Most likely, the movie was simply too polarizing to win those categories. However, the performances were still universally praised, and the film ultimately settled for two acting wins (Best Actress for McDormand and Best Supporting Actor for Rockwell).
Jerkass Woobie:
- Mildred. As James perfectly lays to her, she is a bitter old lady who can do nothing but hurl insults at everyone, even those who have her well-being in mind. However, her personality only became this spiteful because she blames herself for the death of her own daughter. In fact, other than the standard bursts of anger or her cold indifference, her only display of emotion for most of the film is crying tears of grief.
- Dixon. He lost his father at a young age and the harsh nature of his upbringing molded him into the racist asshole he is today. Then he suddenly loses his father figure, Willoughby, and the shock is such that he passes out in front of his fellow cops. He is put through even more suffering after his Heel–Face Turn, gaining some horrific scars both from the fire that consumed the Police Department and from the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown he received from the rapist at the bar.
Narm: Mildred's Parting-Words Regret to her daughter shortly before her rape and death are "I hope you get raped." It's so incredibly on-the-nose that it almost borders on clairvoyance.
Questionable Casting: Abbie Cornish’s casting got some flack for two reasons. The first was that using her natural Australian accent made her stand out like a sore thumb among all the other actors, despite Cornish having spent much of her career playing Americans and being adept at it, and the second being her age. Specifically how she’s noticeably much younger than her onscreen husband Woody Harrelson, by about two decades. Given significant age differences in relationships are considered taboo by many, this can seem at odds with Willoughby’s universal popularity among the town (exclusion Mildred), and ultimately, an actress closer to Harrelson’s own age likely would’ve made the character’s reaction to his suicide hit harder, given it would imply a longer history of romance between the two.
Signature Scene: A grief stricken Dixon assaulting and throwing Red out of a window.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Peter Dinklage as James. He's one of the few genuinely nice guys in the film and has an interesting set-up for growth (his fondness of Mildred and constant alienation due to being a "midget"). However, aside from a few brief scenes and his date with Mildred, he doesn't get a lot of time to develop.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring:
- Many viewers found a large number of the characters to be a bit too flawed. Mildred is a rude Anti-Hero at best, Dixon is a racist bully, and most of the town is filled with jerks who do nothing but deride each other. The few sympathetic characters like James and Robbie are either underutilized or Out of Focus to the point that there wasn't really anyone to root for by the film's end. Hell, not even Angela's killer is found, making any possible character development feel rather pointless.
- Backlash from feminist/social justice circles revolved around this, especially in response to some critics' proclamations of Mildred being a strong female — criticism especially went to Mildred's conflicted thoughts about her own daughter, and the treatment of her and her daughter as a MacGuffin. It really didn't help that the film was specifically attached to "Time's Up" (which didn't yet exist when it was being made, mind you) during its win at the Golden Globes.
- Similarly, some have criticized the film's handling of Dixon, claiming that it's meant to make the audience sympathize with and root for a racist. That Dixon is a racist cop during a time when America is grappling with the issue of racially charged police shootings just adds more fuel to the fire. In response, Martin McDonagh claimed that he wasn't trying to redeem Dixon or make him seem like a hero, and that the whole point of the film is supposed to be that real life is messy and complicated.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: While it's made clear that Mildred isn't supposed to be a squeaky clean heroine, some people found that her Jerkass tendencies overwhelmed her more admirable traits. These include her rudeness, her character assassination of the sheriff who legitimately tried to find her daughter's killer, and burning down the police station (the place where all the evidence for her daughter's murder is). The fact that many of her actions come at the expense of the well-being of her remaining child, Robbie, doesn't really help, either.
The Woobie:
- Robbie, given his sister was raped and murdered, his mother puts up billboards attacking the police concerning her death (which he'd been trying to avoid hearing about) and it's implied he's ostracised at school because of everything. Not to mention he's caught between his two very hostile divorced parents.
- Willoughby is absolutely adored by every character other than Mildred and, while he does seem to be rather comfortable with all the racism running rampant in the Police Department, the little we see of him is enough to draw the conclusion that he is overall a very moral man. Then he commits suicide, because he doesn't want to spend the last moments of his life being slowly devoured by his cancer...
- James is one of the very few characters to be genuinely sympathetic. His final scene has him walking away depressed as his date with Mildred turns sour.

YMMV / Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Edit Locked