Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: The Screenplay

by Martin McDonagh

After months pass without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes pays for three signs challenging the authority of William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon, a mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement threatens to engulf the town.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a darkly comedic drama from Martin McDonagh.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Film, Mystery, Crime, Contemporary, Media Tie In

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2018

About the author

While still in his twenties, the Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh filled houses in New York and London, was showered with the theatre world's most prestigious accolades, and electrified audiences with his cunningly crafted and outrageous tragicomedies.

Reviews

[Carol]

SAD. FUNNY. TRAGIC. DARK. SHOCKING. HEARTBREAKING.

THREE BILLBOARDS is the story of a bereaved and disgusted mother who seeks justice for the unsolved rape and murder of her daughter....AND HOW SHE DOES IT....not only causes attention, but discord throughout the small town of Ebbing, Missouri.....especially for the well-respected Chief of Police.

ALL of the characters are superbly well-drawn, the dialogue emotionally powerful and the perfectly ambiguous ending a thumbs-up for me.

While probably not for everyone due to a multitude of foul language, violent actions and racist remarks, I found it to be a winner from page one.

Highly recommend even if you're not a big fan of screenplays. SUPER FAST read!

[Kelly (and the Book Boar)]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Being that I’m a hermit, I can’t say I’m much for movie going. I can’t say I’m much of a television watcher either and when I do sit down in front of the boob tube to partake in some Househoes of Any City on the Planet highly educational program viewing, it’s usually on the DVR so I don’t even see commercials or film trailers. Occasionally my buddy Ron 2.0 or my husband point something out to me. Such was the case with Three Billboards and my husband shoving his cell phone in my face quite awhile back. I responded in my usual loving manner . . . .



Until he finally convinced me to just STFU and watch what he was showing me.

When I saw an update that someone was reading this “book” I continually begged the library to buy a copy of it until they finally broke down and did just that. Little did I know that it was the screenplay. If you don’t like screenplays, I can’t guarantee you’ll like this. If you’ve already watched the film, there is literally ZERO additional info in this book as it is the film in written format and that’s all it is. But if you’re like me, you only know what was provided to you in the trailer. Those things are that it features some of your absolute favorites that you have loved since she was a very pregnant police chief . . . .



Or when he performed a song that has followed you to middle-age . . . .



(And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the acting.)

You knew the dialogue was absolutely your cuppa . . . .



And that despite the “three billboards” storyline, you’d still have the occasional chuckle . . .




What I wasn’t expecting???



And also this . . . .



Ugly crying in front of everyone on my lunch hour?????



5 Stars from me and 27 from Mitchell!

[Amin Matin]

گویا دوران درخشش مک‌دونا در انگلیس تمام شده و ایشون دیگه برای فتح هالیوود حرکت کرده، مک‌دونا در کلامی به خاطر نوع نگاه خاصی که به دنیا و الخصوص جوامع انسانی دارد معروف است، نگاهی که هیچ پیچیدگی فیلسوف‌‌مابانه‌ای در آن وجود ندارد، و حتی به شکلی می‌توانیم از لفظ «سهل ممتنع» برای آن استفاده کنیم، نوع نگاهی که به ظاهر ساده است و مطمئن هستم هر کدام از شما با خود می‌گوید نوشتن نمایشنامه‌ای/فیلمنامه‌ای هم‌سنگ با آثار مک‌دونا نباید آنچنان که به نظر میاد سخت باشد ولی در عمل باید اعتراف کنیم نوشتن به مانند این نویسنده ایرلندی‌تبار کار هرکسی نیست. مفاهیمی که مک‌دونا از آن برای داستان‌گویی‌ استفاده می‌کند فارغ از اغراق‌ و غلوهای شاعر مسلکانه امثال شکسپیر است و بلعکس او با همین سادگی خاص خود همواره دست به متعجب کردن خوانندگان می‌زند و آن‌ها را هاج‌و‌واج میان سطرهای نمایشنامه‌ها و حتی پلان‌های فیلم‌های خود رها می‌کند. در فیلمنامه سه بیلبورد خارج از ابینگ، میزوری، ما شاهد بازی با مفاهیم بعضاً کلیشه‌ای مثل عدالت، ظلم، خیروشر از نوع تالکینی هستیم که در نهایت باعث خلق یکی از جذاب‌ترین فیلم‌های دهه اخیر سینمای غرب شده است.




در ادامه همین بحث می‌رسیم به نوع داستان‌گویی‌ آقای مک‌دونا و روشی که برای روایت‌ کردن استفاده می‌کنه، با خوندن هر کدوم از داستان‌ها و نمایشنامه و حتی فیلمنامه‌های مک‌دونا قطعاً متوجه خواهید شد که شخصیت‌های داستان در نهایت آسانی و به محاوره‌ترین شکل ممکن حرف می‌زنند و در بین دیالوگ‌هاشون در نهایت صداقت از واژه‌های منفی از جمله کاکاسیاه و حتی عبارت‌های زن ستیزانه استفاده می‌کنند، چرا همچین اتفاقی می‌افته؟ اولاً که مک‌دونا به سانسور و پنهان کردن حقیقت علاقه‌ای نداره و از همین صداقت شخصیت‌ها برای رسیدن به نتایج دراماتیک و احساسی بهره می‌بره. به عبارتی همین واقع‌گرایی خاص آثار مک‌دوناست که رنگ‌و‌بوی خاصی بهشون داده.

[Becky]

A review in Brooklyn 99 Gifs:





OK, sheesh! I'll use my words too, FINE. DANG.

So my mother informed me, an indeterminate amount of time in the past, that this movie existed and it was really good... but did I get around to watching it? I did not. However, I did learn that there is a book version, and thus I picked it up!

This is a short book. Novella, really. Screenplay, in fact. I didn't realize any of those things until I opened it up on my Kindle and was already at 3% completion. But what it lacks in length, it makes up for in OH DAMN. O_O

This is not for the faint-hearted, the easily offended by... well... anything. This is not for people who take a backseat in life. This is not for those who believe in letting events run their course (which is kinda funny because the other story I'm reading feature "letting things take their predetermined course" as literally the plot. SNORE.). This is a "grab the bull by the horns and if the stupid thing has the ill-advised temerity to balk, shoot it" kind of story.

But it's also surprisingly gentle and emotional at times too. I picked it up on a whim when my OTHER book bored me to annoyance, and I read about half of it in a single sitting, on the plane home from a business meeting. I only stopped when I got to said really emotional part and felt myself start tearing up, and then I had to put it away. Because my flight was landing, and all that. And I had something in my eye. And FAA regulations indicate that all personal items must be stowed for takeoff and landing, and DAMMIT I WAS UGLY CRYING OKAY??


So I picked it back up today (on yet another flight. Apparently I'm either unofficially training for a flight attendant gig, or I'm transitioning into a bird) and finished it up. And I don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, I want, really want, to be like "HELL YES" to the ending, but 83% of me is like "NOOooo... This is wrong. You can't DO that! OMG!" but then Yes Becky says "But it looks like they can." And apparently I stand corrected.

Look, I don't know where this is going. This shit was crazy, and it was great, but brutal, and... just... really sad and also really desperately determined and laser focused. Read it. Or don't. Or just watch the movie, because hot dang there are some good actors in it and I can't wait to watch it myself when I get home from yet another bird training session.

Byeee!

[Vivian]

Rating a screenplay? Who knows?
Rating the story? Oh yeah...

This all started with me attempting to cheat--no, that's not quite accurate, looking for an advantage in the annual Academy Awards ballot competition. While other participants read the local industry rags to find the odds, I decided to borrow a screenplay. Of course, I admitted I had a copy and was just starting to read it when the announcement that it was hitting Redbox Tuesday after the awards and I stopped. Truce of sorts. I don't really watch TV and the occasional show or movie is a concession I make, so I put it aside.

Fastforward. So, I saw the movie before reading this, which to be honest, is a bit of a spoiler, but I still laughed at the same points in the screenplay as I did in the movie--Win. The technical aspects of how much direction is given was interesting to see. I really like the movie and I really liked the screenplay.

Because through Love comes Calm, and through Calm comes Thought. And you need Thought to detect stuff sometimes, Jason. It's kinda all you need.

Kudos to Francis McDormand and Sam Rockwell for their awards, though I have to admit that I was disappointed that Sam Rockwell didn't say:

[Bettie]

Description: After months pass without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes pays for three signs challenging the authority of William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon, a mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement threatens to engulf the town.

Do you remember Carrie Fisher was stalking with a launcher in the Blues Brothers?, well, that is the gallows humour here too, and Francis McDormand plays her rôle to perfection. News from Missouri at time of my encounter:

Applebee’s admits Missouri customers were racially profiled

Democrats flip deep-red Missouri state House seat, signal problems for GOP

[Harry McDonald]

I'm a big McDonagh fan, and this is my favourite of his films so I'm glad I got to read it. It is quite striking how much tamer (for want of a better word) it is than his plays. Maybe films call for a different kind of subversion.

[Maryna Ponomaryova]

МакДона такий МакДона. Захопливий сценарій, купа драми, похмурі часи.

[Emerson‌●ω●]

انتظار خاصی ازش نداشتم
ولی کاملا غافلگیرم کرد..
انقدر جذبم کرد که پشت هم میخوندمش که فقط ببینم چه اتفاقی برای شخصیت های داستان میفته..
شخصیت هایی که در عین منفور بودن خیلی دوستشون داشتم:)

[mohammad]

در عرض چند روز یک نمایشنامه و فیلم‌نامه از مارتین مک‌دونا خوندن باعث میشه ادم یه خورده افسرده بشه
با این همه نفرتی که تو پشت چهره آدما قایم شده اینکه خلت خودت رو مقصر بدونی ولی بخوای از بقیه انتقام بگیری.

[Peycho Kanev]

Mildred lying awake, thinking. She slowly sits up, slips her feet into her fluffy bunny rabbit slippers at bedside, and sits there a while; worn out, angry, depressed.

MILDRED
(quietly)
I’ll crucify the motherfuckers. (Crying.) I’ll crucify the motherfuckers.

She flexes her toes in her bunny slippers, and the bunny noses look like they’re sniffing. It hits her how incongruous the image is in regard to what she’s saying. She smiles.
Mildred’s point-of-view: of rabbit slippers, noses sniffing again.

MILDRED
(rabbit voice)
What are you gonna do to ’em, Mildred? You’re gonna crucify ’em? (Normal voice.) That’s right, I’m gonna crucify ’em. (Rabbit voice.) Who you gonna crucify? The motherfuckers? (Normal voice.) That’s right, I’m gonna crucify the motherfuckers. (Rabbit voice.) Jeez! Well, I guess those motherfuckers better watch out then, huh? (Normal voice.) Fucking A!

[Mahsa Rami]

یکی از فیلمنامه‌های خیلی خوب بود واقعا از خواندش لذت بردم

[Stina]

Book #22 for 2018
The Legendary Book Club of Habitica's Ultimate Reading Challenge: A book about death or grief
The Ultimate PopSugar Reading Challenge:
- A book about death or grief
- A book about a villain or anti-hero
- A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
Full House Bingo Square: Redemption Theme
Mt TBR Challenge #13
50 States Challenge: Missouri
Abandoned Book Rescue: Abandoned because you just weren't in the mood for it
Monthly Motif: April - Read Locally - Read a book set in (or that has a main character from) your home town, state, etc.
Key Word Challenge: Out

I watched the film as soon as it was released here, and I had some issues with it. After reading this screenplay and trying to focus on the actual story told, I think I understand where my issues came from. The marketing sold a very different story. I went into the show expecting Frances McDormand to be a badass avenger of Ferguson. I got Frances McDormand self-destructing and turning to her sworn enemy for solace and guidance. And while we do need a badass avenger of Ferguson, this is a better story -- and a better Frances McDormand vehicle.

I might still quibble that setting Dixon on the path to redemption was too abrupt and the path itself too hand-wavy. But I dunno, maybe getting set on fire changes a guy's perspective more quickly than other plot devices. And as I look back at the escalations up to that point, I can see making a case for epiphany. I also think that the influence of Red -- not just on Dixon, but on all of the characters he interacts with -- is underestimated.

This is one I plan to re-read and re-watch, so for now I will just say that this is an amazing story of grief, guilt, and redemption. And the ending? Well, while startling and unsettling, it's actually kinda perfect.

[Erin]

Strange how reading the screenplay can go so much faster than actually watching the movie...

[Elaine Mullane || Elaine and the Books]

While driving through the southern United States circa 1998, Martin McDonagh stumbled upon three accusatory billboards relating to the unsolved murder of a young woman in Texas. Assuming the billboards were put up by the victim's family, the screenwriter, playwright and director was left feeling enraged and sad about the injustice and their frustration. Coupled with his desire to depict strong female characters, McDonagh was inspired to write the story Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

The screenplay is incredibly well done. It is sharp, bold and funny yet still deeply emotive. The characters are fully fledged and exceptionally raw, particularly the ferocious Mildred Hayes, the grieving and ballsy mother who will stop at nothing to seek justice for her murdered daughter.

A brutal but beautiful story, with a film adaptation that is equally as stunning. 4.5 stars.

[Wes]

I loved 95% of this script.

The dialogue was flawless.

The story sizzled.

But the ending -- WTF?! It's like the writer just gave up. "Hey, it's time for dinner, which means it's time for me to put my pen down." Yuck! Yuck! Double yuck! I wanted some sort of resolution. Something. Anything. There are so many wonderful ways that Martin could of ended this story. But he chose to put his pen down, and give up.

Arfff. Arggg. Triple yuck!

Martin, if you ever read this -- please don't chicken out (on an ending) again. Please? Pretty please!? It's such a let down to a wonderful story. Pretty please?!

[Caleb]

Outstanding. I was so moved by the film, I swiped up the screenplay so I could revisit and savor the dark, quirky, emotionally compelling dialogue. Nobody does tragicomedy like Martin McDonagh does tragicomedy.

[Amirho3ein]

نمیگم فوق‌العاده بود نه اصلا، ولی واقعا چسبید بهم، نتونستم زمینش بذارم روون و جذاب بود.
دیالوگ‌ها درجه یک بودن، ایده عالی بود
شخصیت پردازی حرف نداشت
ترجمه هم قابل قبول بود
فقط انتظار یه پایان بهتر رو داشتم
آخه پایان باز؟؟؟ بیخیال🥲

[Rêbwar]

درد اگر به‌اندازهٔ کافی کش بیاید، به خشم تبدیل می‌شود؛ و وقتی خشم مجال بیان پیدا نکند، زبانش را از دیوارهای بلندِ بی‌تفاوتی بیرون می‌کشد و بر آن می‌نویسد: «هنوز هیچ دستگیری‌ای صورت نگرفته؟ چطور ممکنه؟»

مارتین مک‌دونا در سه بیلبورد خارج از ابینگ، میزوری نه فقط یک درام جنایی خلق کرده، بلکه تراژدی‌ای سیاه و طنزآلود از ناامیدی، سرکشی، و ناتوانی سیستم‌ها در پاسخ به رنج فردی را به تصویر می‌کشد. فیلمی که در پس ظاهر ساده‌اش، زخم‌های عمیقی از خشونت، عدالت، تبعیض، و ناکارآمدی پلیس و اجتماع را با لحنی به‌شدت انسانی، تلخ و در عین حال شوخ‌طبعانه روایت می‌کند.

قهرمان فیلم، زنی است با صورتی شکسته از اندوه، اما چشمانی سرسخت و شعله‌ور از خشمی که دیگر نمی‌خواهد خاموش شود. او دیگر منتظر پاسخی از قانون نیست، او بیلبوردهایی اجاره می‌کند و با کلماتش، حقیقتِ دفن‌شده را فریاد می‌زند. در این میان، شهری کوچک و سنتی از جا کنده می‌شود؛ جایی که همه از همه خبر دارند، اما هیچ‌کس صدای واقعی درد را نمی‌شنود. این تضاد میان فرد و جامعه، دل ما را به لرزه می‌اندازد: چگونه ممکن است در دل یک اجتماع، کسی چنین تنها، رنجور، و بی‌پاسخ باقی بماند؟

مک‌دونا در این فیلم به‌خوبی موفق شده از قالبِ آشنای فیلم‌های پلیسی-جنایی عبور کند و چیزی بسیار عمیق‌تر بسازد. فیلم از ما نمی‌خواهد که در پی قاتل بگردیم، بلکه ما را وادار می‌کند به خودمان نگاه کنیم: به خشم‌هایی که پنهانشان کرده‌ایم، به پرسش‌هایی که سال‌ها بی‌جواب مانده‌اند، به خشونت‌هایی که فقط با طنز می‌توان دوام آورد. کارگردانی او تیزبینانه، دیالوگ‌ها هوشمندانه و شخصیت‌پردازی بی‌نقص است. هر شخصیت، حتی اگر تنها چند صحنه ظاهر شود، عمقی واقعی دارد؛ هیچ‌کس سیاه یا سفید نیست.

نقش‌آفرینی فرانسیس مک‌دورمند در قامت مادری سوگوار و بی‌پروا، شاهکاری است از بازیگری: انسانی که تسلیم نمی‌شود، اما راه عدالت را هم گم کرده است. شخصیت پلیس نژادپرست و خشنِ داستان نیز به مرور، در مسیری دور از انتظار، به جلوه‌ای پیچیده و چندبعدی از تغییر تبدیل می‌شود؛ و این درست همان‌جاست که فیلم، آن چیزی می‌شود که از آن کمتر انتظار داریم: امید. اما نه امیدی ساده، کهنه، یا کلیشه‌ای؛ بلکه نوری کمرنگ، لرزان و گاه مسخره، در دل تاریکی مطلق.

سه بیلبورد خارج از ابینگ، میزوری اثری است درباره خشم، اما نه خشم بی‌منطق. درباره اندوه، اما نه اندوه بی‌صدا. فیلمی که در دل خشونت و تلخی، لحظه‌هایی از شوخ‌طبعی، فهم انسانی، و حتی بخشش پنهان کرده است. فیلمی که به‌جای آنکه راه‌حل دهد، ما را در برابر آینه‌ای رها می‌کند که می‌پرسد: اگر عدالت خاموش بماند، فریادِ ما به کجا خواهد رسید؟

در دورانی که بسیاری از آثار سینمایی به شعار و سطح‌گرایی سقوط می‌کنند، مک‌دونا با سادگی و پیچیدگیِ هم‌زمان، قصه‌ای را بازگو می‌کند که هم تراژدی است، هم کمدی سیاه، و هم بازتابی از رنج‌های مدرن در یک قالب کلاسیک. فیلمی برای فکر کردن، و شاید حتی برای فریاد زدن.

[Gina]

I checked this out from the library thinking I'd read the book before watching the film. It is only upon starting it that I realize its a screenplay. That works great as I needed to read a play for a book club, but I'm not sure how I enjoyed it otherwise. I find the story intriguing and look forward to the movie. However, I'm not sure I'd recommend reading this first. Most other screen plays I've read include significant set direction and other screen setting notes. Both were scarce here making it hard to visualize. Even just a note at the beginning of a scene indicating we were now at the diner or home or Sheriff's office would have been appreciated. Still looking forward to the movie but wish I hadn't read this first, especially now knowing the open ending.

[Snakes]

McDonagh is my favorite playwright, and lately he’s made some forays into some other areas. A live performance of A Behanding in Spokane was one of the best things I’ve seen in the last decade. I have yet to see this movie, but I usually make a point to read his work first. This one had all the turgid drama of his previous stuff (and one of the most humane and sad passages I’ve ever read in literature during the police chief’s letter to his wife) and I was fully expecting another five star read; however, I thought ending was a bit contrived, rushed, and unfulfilling so it sorta withered away, as did a star. But still a great read.

[Toolshed]

What's funny and perhaps paradoxical is that as a pure screenplay, in its distilled theatrical form, without being influenced and sometimes overshadowed by the brilliant perfomances of the actors, the powerful impact and structural mastery of the story becomes even more apparent. And rightfully so: it just shows that McDonagh was an ingenious playwright long before he ever was a director.

[Milad Rami]

یه فیلمنامه خیلی جذاب.
اولین چیزی بود که از مارتین مک دونا خوندم و واقعا عالی بود.
قبلا فیلمش رو دیده بودم و اونم قشنگ بود.
باعث شد در آینده فیلمنامه های بیشتری بخونم و حتی کتاب های دیگه مارتین مک دونا رو هم بخونم.

[Mohammad Hanifeh]

سومین فیلم مارتین مک‌دونا
و سومین کتابی که من ازش خوندم.

[Erika]

A quick read.
Screen-play.

I saw the movie a while back and loved it. It is truly such a good story. I have been trying to find a book with the same vibes, atmosphere, something but I haven't had luck. When I saw this screen-play as a book, well what a better way to enjoy the story.
Will definitely watch the movie again now too.

So good.

[Medhat The Fanatic Reader]

Funny, interesting, raw & moving.

[Ross Bonaime]

I'm usually a huge fan of Martin McDonagh's writing, but after seeing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri twice, and reading his screenplay, the flaws really start to come out. Here's just a few things that popped out to me upon revisiting this story several times that I can't stand about this story:

- James (played by Peter Dinklage in the film) serves no purpose in this story, other than maybe to show that Mildred might not just be vengeful, but also sort of an awful person - which we should've gotten without the addition of this unnecessary character.

- There's no need AT ALL for the guy from Idaho who might be Mildred's daughter's killer. Like James, he's just sort of reinforcing ideas that have already been made.

- There's no reason why we should sympathize with Willoughby. I did the first time I saw the film, but c'mon, the guy let an officer brutally attack a man who was in custody, and still keep him on the streets.

- In a film largely about a character with racial prejudice, why are there no minority characters with any substance?

- On that note, why does Mildred's coworker go to jail for almost no reason, only for Mildred and no one else to care about what happened to her, despite her disappearing for the majority of the film.

- What exactly is the point of the priest scene? My only answer is that Martin McDonagh wanted to shit on Catholics, but had no other means to do it.

- Why does absolutely no one care that Mildred's ex-husband used to beat her - including her own children, and not even his current girlfriend?

- The scene with Mildred and the deer is stolen directly from The Queen, and again, adds nothing to the story.

- The story terribly uses words like the n word, "retard," "midget," and "faggot" as laugh lines. The joke is that people are using these words. Ok...that just makes them shitty people.

- The scene where Red goes "hey Mildred you owe me $5000,"
*Red's secretary walks in*
"here's $5000 someone just brought in for you!"
That scene is atrociously stupid and completely useless.

- Why the fuck would Willoughby leave his daughters playing by a river by themselves, when there is a known rapist and murderer on the loose??

So much of what I liked about Three Billboards comes from the performances, but all of my problems with Three Billboards comes from the script, which creates entire characters and scenes that serve no purpose, and McDonagh doesn't know how to make multilayered characters that make sense. I swear, so many characters here change entirely depending on what the scene needs from them. I'm usually a huge fan of McDonagh, and I was a fan of this film at first. But in the months since seeing this film and now reading it, the flaws have become overwhelming to me, and I think it might be his weakest film by far.

[Shaddi and Laura Albawab]

Martin McDonagh is one of the greatest modern writers.

I saw the movie and thought it was great, so I decided to read the screenplay. McDonagh just had a way of bringing flawed characters to life and make you care about them.

[Kristina]

I’ll always love Martin McDonagh.

[Lauren]

i love this movie.