McDonagh has proceeded quite cynically as a filmmaker. As usual, McDonagh is alert to how conflicts are codified into games by opponents who share affinities: Colin Farrell and Ralph FiennesвЂ™s characters in McDonaghвЂ™s In Bruges (2008) and the two opposing вЂteamsвЂ™ in Seven Psychopaths (2012) all set playground rules before embarking on western-style shoot-outs. Though taken seriously by police officer Jason Dixon ( Sam Rockwell), the feud between Mildred and Willoughby had in fact become a collusion, as evidenced by Mildred stepping outside their enmity to sympathise вЂ“ вЂњOh, babyвЂќ вЂ“ when he coughs blood during one of their confrontations. Mildred comes closer to expressing guilt when she apologises to WilloughbyвЂ™s wife Anne ( Abbie Cornish) for perhaps contributing to his subsequent suicide, though Anne absolves her of blame вЂ“ Mildred is transparently innocent, as she well knows. Sam Rockwell as Officer Dixon with McDormand The conversation evokes Jean RenoirвЂ™s words from La RГЁgle du jeu (1939) вЂ“ вЂњThe awful thing about life is this: everybody has their reasons.вЂќ MildredвЂ™s refusal to remove the billboard signs вЂ“ even though Willoughby says heвЂ™d do anything to catch the killer, that the law prevents him carrying out widespread DNA testing, and that he is himself dying of cancer вЂ“ elicits an appalled silence from the sheriff. ItвЂ™s a form of therapeutic transference, desperate and unwarranted but understandable. That Angela was indeed raped that night as she was dying, and that her body was burned by the killer, explains MildredвЂ™s attempt to alleviate her crushing feelings of guilt by lashing out at WilloughbyвЂ™s police department. The exchange ends with Angela snapping that if she canвЂ™t have the car then sheвЂ™ll walk, and maybe sheвЂ™ll get raped on the way вЂ“ to which Mildred passively-aggressively retorts that she hopes she does. These details convincingly sketch in the familyвЂ™s wretchedly dysfunctional history. ItвЂ™s true, Mildred admits, but she did it only because her husband Charlie had been hitting her. It comes shortly after a revelatory flashback to an argument between mother and daughter: Mildred wonвЂ™t let Angela use her car because sheвЂ™s been smoking pot all day Angela sneers that her mother is a hypocrite, as she used to drink-drive with Angela and her brother Robbie in the car. MildredвЂ™s encounter with the fawn is highly reminiscent of the scene in which Helen MirrenвЂ™s HRH is fleetingly confronted by a soon-to-be-butchered stag near Balmoral in The Queen (2006) вЂ“ a metaphor for the hounding to death of another beautiful young woman. Sheriff William Willoughby, вЂBillвЂ™ Woody HarrelsonДistributor 20th Century Fox International (UK)

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