You Red Welby?
Yes, ma'am. How may I help you?
I heard there's three billboards out on Drinkwater Road...
you're in charge of renting them out, that right?
I didn't know we had any billboards out on Drinkwater...
- Where is Drinkwater Road? - there's a Road out past the Sizemore got put in.
Turn-off nobody uses since the highway,
You are right.
Got three billboards out there. Nobody's put nothing up out there since... 1986.
That was 'Huggies'.
How much to rent out all three of 'em the year?
A year?
You wanna pay for three billboards on a road no-one goes down
unless they got lost or they're retards, for a year?
Quick, ain't ya, Welby?
Well...
since what I say goes these days down at the Ebbing Advertising Desk,
I'm gonna strike you a real good deal on those billboards,
now, what was it you said your name was, Mrs...?
What's the law on what ya can and cannot say on a billboard?
I assume it's ya can't say nothing defamatory,
and ya can't say, 'Fuck' 'Piss' or 'Cunt'. That right?
Or...
Anus.
Well I think I'll be alright then.
Here's five thousand for the first month. I assume that'll cover it.
Here's what the billboards oughta say.
Why don't ya draw up a little contract betwixt us while you're at it,
make sure nobody rents them billboards out from under me?
I guess you're Angela Hayes' mother.
That's right, I'm Angela Hayes' mother.
Name's Mildred.
How long before you've got 'em put up?
Oh, shall we say by...
Easter Sunday?
That'd be perfect.
- Hey! What the hell's this?! - Que?
- “How come Chief Willoughby?” what? - What?
- Yeah! - Huh!
How come what?
What?!
Listen, I better start getting some straight answers outta you
you Put that down.
What the Hell is this?
Hey you?
What the fuck is this?
- What the fuck is what? - This! This!
- Advertising, I guess. - Advertising what?
Something obscure?
I'll say! Yeah!
Don't I know your face from some place?
- I dunno, do ya? - Yeah.
Yeah, I do.
I could arrest you right now, if I wanted to.
- For what? - For... emptying out your bucket there. It's against the...
being bad against the environment laws.
Before you do that,
Officer Dixon,
How about you go have yourself a look at that first billboard over there,
and then we can have ourself a conversation about the motherfucking environment.
How about that?
Fuck me.
Don't...
Dixon, you goddam asshole, I'm in the middle of my goddam Easter dinner...
Sorry, kids.
I know, Chief, and I'm sorry for calling ya at home and all, but uh,
I think we've got kind of a problem...
No. No. Go back.
Alright.
Sorry I'm late, Denise.
Did you put up those billboards to fuck with the cops yet?
They're up.
You go, girl! You go fuck those cops up!
What the fuck do you think you're doing, Welby, buncha billboards like that,
you didn't think there'd be some kinda ramifications? Legally?
What's the legal ramifications, Cedric?
You want me to explain the legal ramifications, a little punk like you?
And don't call me Cedric.
Ain't contravening no laws on propriety, ain't contravening no laws on any fucking thing.
- I checked all this up. - Oh yeah, where'd you check all this up?
In a...
- book. - Which book, genius?
Book called 'Suck my ass, it's none o' your business'.
Fuck.
How long has this person, or persons,
rented these billboards out for?
Oh, the year.
And how long she actually paid for?
The year.
So it's a she, isn't?
Ain't at liberty to divulge that kinda information, Chief.
Mildred Hayes, perhaps?
Ain't at liberty to divulge that kinda information, Chief.
Do you really wanna fuck with the Ebbing Police Department, Red?
Do ya?
I guess.
- He said what?! To your face?! - No crime has been committed here.
C'mon Defamation of character ain't a crime?
It isn't defamation if she's simply asking a question.
- What are you, an idiot? - Don't call me an idiot, Dixon.
I didn't call you an idiot. I asked if you was an idiot. It was a question.
He got ya, Cedric!
- That's it. C'mon man. - Don't go fly off the handle!
- Why in hell you keep that man on? - He's a good man. At heart.
- He tortured a guy in custody, Bill. - There was no...
real evidence to support that.
Take 'em down.
- Hah? - Take that shit down.
- Take what shit down? - Hey boy.
You think I wouldn't take you out, right here on Main Street, Red?
I Thought you only take out black dudes, Dixon...
That's it. No no.
Stop it! Don't; you ever fucking touch me, you motherfucker.
Are you drunk?
Are you drunk right now? - Get up
nobody never goes down that road, anyways.
Unless they got lost, or they're retards.
Well, don't be nervous, is the main thing, and it'll go just fine.
Don't look into the camera, obviously. Let's hold for this car.
In three, two, one.
So, Mildred Hayes, why did you put up these billboards?
Well, my daughter, Angela, she got abducted, and she got raped and murdered seven months ago,
on this self-same stretch o' road here,
Whatcha watching, Momma? The stupid news?
It seems like the local police department is too busy goin' round torturing black folks
to be bothered doing anything about solving actual crime,
I thought these here billboards might concentrate their minds some.
Fuck.
I don't know what the police are doing, to be honest with you.
I do know my daughter's burnt body
is lying six feet under the ground while they're eating Krispy Kremes
and busting eight year-olds for skateboarding in parking lots.
And Chief Willoughby, why single him out?
Well, he's the head of 'em, ain't he? The buck's gotta stop at somewhere.
And the buck stops at Willoughby?
Yeah, the buck stops at Willoughby. Dead right it does.
You alright there, fella?
Looks like we got a war on our hands.
Can we talk?
I'd do anything to catch the guy who did it, Mrs. Hayes.
But when the DNA don't match no-one who's ever been arrested,
and when the DNA don't match any other crime nationwide,
and when there wasn't a single eyewitness from the time she left your house
to the time we found her, well,
right now there ain't too much more that we can do
you Could pull blood from every man and boy in this town,
over the age of eight.
There's civil rights laws prevents that, Mrs. Hayes,
and what if he was just passing thru town...
Pull blood from ever' man in the country, then.
And what if he was just passing thru the country?
If it was me,
I'd start up a database,
every male baby what's born, stick 'em on it,
and as soon as they done something wrong, cross reference it
make a hundred percent certain it was a correct match,
then kill 'em.
Yeah, well, there's
definitely civil rights laws prevents that.
I'm doing everything I can to track him down,
I don't think those billboards is very fair.
The time it's took you to get out here whining like a bitch, Willoughby,
some other poor girl's probably out there being butchered right now,
but I'm glad you've got your priorities straight, I'll say that for ya.
There's something else, Mildred.
I got cancer.
- I'm dying. - I know it.
Huh?
I know it. Most everybody in town knows it.
Then you still putting up those billboard?
Well, they wouldn't be as effective after you croak, right?
Well looky looky,
if it ain't the instigator of this whole goddam affair in the first place...
I didn't instigate shit, Dixon...
Playing pool against the town midget.
He's right, Red, you are playing pool against the town midget.
Well he's a cop, y'know, he's observant.
You know, I always disliked you, Red,
ever since you was a snotty little child,
which you still look like. A snotty little child.
Well that's unfortunate. I always thought you was great.
Even your name, 'Red Welby'.
Even your name I disliked.
Well... okay.
Like you was some kind of a goddam Communist or something,
- and proud of it. - No,
it's cos I got red hair.
Do you know what they do to fagots down in Cuba, Welby?
Wow, that's left-field...
No, what do they do to fagots down in Cuba, Dixon?
They kill 'em!
Which, it might surprise you to learn, I am against.
I'm not sure if they do kill fagots down in Cuba, Dixon.
I know Cuba's human rights record is pretty deplorable
when it comes to homosexuality, but killing 'em?
Are you sure you ain't thinking of Wyoming?
Always with the smart-ass... - Jesus.
He's quite good, isn't he?
Willoughby's a good man. Hey look at me.
Hey look at me. I'm talking nice to you now, am I?
I'm talking nice to you.
He shouldn't have this be the only thing he thinks about,
the last months left to him.
The last months what?
Oh. You didn't know.
Yeah. Pancreatic.
I'm up next
if any of you ole ladies ever quit yakking.
- Rude. - Hey Mildred.
Saw you on TV the other day.
- Oh yeah? - Yeah, you looked good.
I mean, y'know,
you came across really good, in the things you were saying.
I didn't think you came across really good in the things you were saying.
I thought you came across stupid-ass.
Ain't it about time you got home to your momma, Dixon?
No it ain't time I got home to my momma.
I told her I was gonna be out 'til twelve. Actually.
Jesus!
Me versus. You, Mildred!
Hey Robbie? I think that midget wants to get in my pants...
Father Montgomery.
Mildred. I'm sorry for calling on you so late, but.
I must say Robbie's been the consummate host.
Despite his having, he was just telling me, something of a tricky day at school.
Oh, no, just some of the guys on the team was giving me crap.
Crap about what? About the billboards, Mildred.
Which is, uh, kind of what I've come to have a word with you about,
Oh. Proceed.
I know how hard it's been for you, Mildred,
this past year. We all do.
And if there's ever anything that you need,
we'll be there for you. Always.
But the town also knows what kind of a man William Willoughby is.
And the town is dead set against these billboards of yours.
Took a poll, did ya, Father?
You know Mildred, If you hadn't stopped coming to church,
you'd had a little bit more understanding of the depth of people's feelings.
I had more than a dozen people come up to me on Sunday.
So, yes, I took a poll.
Everybody is with you...
about Angela.
Nobody is with you about this.
Y'know what I was thinking about today?
I was thinking 'bout those street gangs they
got in Los Angeles, the Crips and the Bloods?
I was thinking about that buncha new laws they
came up with, in the 1980's I think it was,
to combat those street-gangs, those Crips and those Bloods.
And, if I remember rightly, the gist of what those new laws were saying was
if you join one of these gangs, and you're running with 'em,
and down the block from you one night, unbeknownst to you,
one of your fellow Crips, or your fellow Bloods, shoot up a place, or stab a guy,
well, even though you didn't know nothing about it,
even though you may've just been standing on
a streetcorner minding your own business,
what these new laws said was
you are still culpable.
You are still culpable, by the very act of joining
those Crips, or those Bloods, in the first place.
Which got me thinking, Father,
that whole type of situation is kinda like your Church boys, ain't it?
You've got your colors, you've got your clubhouse,
you're, for want of a better word, a gang.
And if you're upstairs smoking a pipe and reading a bible
while one of your fellow gang members is downstairs fucking an altar boy then,
Father, just like the Crips, and just like the Bloods,
you're culpable.
Cos you joined the gang, man.
And I don't care if you never did shit or never saw shit or never heard shit.
You joined the gang.
You're culpable.
And when a person is culpable
to altar-boy-fucking, or anykinda-boy-fucking,
I know you guys didn't really narrow it down,
, then they kinda forfeit the right to come into my house and say
anything about me, or my life, or my daughter, or my billboards.
So, why don't you just finish your tea there,
Father, and get the fuck outta my kitchen.
But thanks for coming up anyway, Father.
How you been feeling, Bill?
Oh, like I got cancer in a major organ.
Well I just want you to know, we're all on your side about this Mildred Hayes thing...
If I have to hear that one more fucking time...!
I'm done with this shit. I can't waste my life waiting.
Stop reading fucking comics and Get me the file on the Hayes case.
The Angela Hayes case or the Mildred Hayes case?
There is no Mildred Hayes case.
We've had two official complaints about the billboards, so, actually...
From who?
A lady with a funny eye...
and a fat dentist.
Give me the file on the Angela Hayes case.
“A lady with a funny fucking eye”,
Jesus Christ.
Late night?
No.
Lay off that Welby guy.
Or you'll do what?
Or I'll kick your fucking Momma's teeth in.
No you won't.
Who told ya I was laying on him anyway? The midget?
What the fuck are you talking about?!
I'm trying to fucking concentrate! Fucking midgets!
What are you looking for, anyway?
There's nothing to look for.
I don't know what it is.
This feels like it's kinda waggling.
Well if it's waggling it's gonna have to come out.
Ain't you gonna have a look at it first?
It's gonna have to come out.
Uh, can I get a little Novocaine, there, Doc?
Give it a couple minutes.
I just wanted to say... There's a lotta good friends
of Bill Willoughby in this town, Mrs. Hayes,
No! Ouch! Stop it! No, god!
Goddamit.
Then why don't you tell those good friends of Bill Willoughby
to tell him to go do his fucking job, fat boy.
Hey there, Mildred!
You didn't happen to pay a visit to the dentist today, did ya?
- No. - Huh?
I Said 'No'.
Oh. So it wasn't you who drilled a little hole in one of
big fat Geoffrey's big fat thumbnails, no?
Of course not.
- Huh. - I said “Of course not.”
You drilled a hole in the dentist?
No, Denise, I didn't.
- Well, I thought it was kinda funny myself, but
he wants to press charges, so we're gonna have to bring you in, I'm afraid.
So how's it all going in the nigger torturing business, Dixon?
It's 'Persons of color'-torturing business, these days,
if you want to know.
And I didn't torture nobody.
What's the matter with you, saying that goddam stuff on TV.
My momma watches that station!
Your momma does not know about the torturing?
No she didn't know anything about it. She's against that kinda thing.
Who's against that kinda thing?
Who's against what? My momma. Is against 'Persons-of-color torturing'.
She said 'nigger-torturing'. I said you can't say 'nigger-torturing' no more.
You gotta say 'Persons-of-color' torturing.
Isn't that right, Chief?
I think I'll be able to take care of Mrs. Hayes on my own from hereon, Jason.
Sure, Chief, I'll be right outside.
Don't gimme that look.
If you got rid of every cop with vaguely racist leanings then you'd have
three cops left and all o' them are gonna hate the fags
so what are ya gonna do, y'know?
I wanna know something, Mildred...
Why'd ya drill a hole thru
poor fat Geoffrey's thumbnail?
That didn't happen.
His hand slipped and he drilled a hole thru his self.
Did he say I did it?
I guess it's just his word against mine, then huh?
Kinda like in all those rape cases you hear about.
Except, this time,
the chick ain't losing.
It ain't really about winning or losing, though,
is it, Mildred?
I mean, do you think I care about who wins or loses between the two of yous?
Do you think I care about dentists?
I don't care about dentists.
Nobody cares about dentists!
What I I do care about, or what I'm
interested in,
is tying you up in court so long
that your hours at the gift shop are so shot to shit
that you ain't got a penny to pay for another months billboards.
That's what I'm interested in.
I got some dough put away...
What I heard was you had to sell off your ex-husband's
tractor-trailer to even pay for this month's billboards, that right?
To even pay for this month's billboards, that right?
How is ole Charlie, by the way?
He still shacked up with that pretty little intern works down at the zoo?
He's still shacked up with some chick who smells of shit.
I don't know if the zoo's got anything to do with it.
Although I'd hope so.
How old is she?
Nineteen? That's smart.
Keep trying,
Keep trying.
What's Charlie think about these here billboards of yours,
an ex-cop like Charlie?
Ex-cop, ex-wife-beater. Same difference, I guess, right?
His word against yours, though, right?
Charlie don't know about them, does he?
It's none of his business.
He's kinda paying for 'em though, ain't he?
I'm paying for 'em.
This month you are. How about when...
- I didn't mean to... - I know...
- It was an accident... - I know, baby.
It's blood.
I'll go get somebody...
Hey!
Just let her go. - C'mon Chief.
Just let her go!
Easy, easy, easy.
Hey.
Do birds get cancer?
- Huh? - Birds. Do they get cancer?
I don't know. Dogs do.
Yeah, well, I wasn't talking about dogs, was I?
Great.
The good ole “Raped While Dying” route home.
Cos if there was two seconds in a day when I didn't think about her,
and wasn't thinking about how she died, “.
There ya go, think about it some more, why don't ya?”
It's good, too, that as much as a person might've
tried to avoid the details of what happened,
cos he didn't think it'd do any good, and he didn't think he could bear it,
it's also good to be informed in twenty foot high font and a real nice lettering,
the precise details of her last moments.
That it wasn't enough that she was raped,
and it wasn't enough that she died, no.
“Raped While Dying”.
Thank you, mom.
I gave you the police reports...
I didn't read 'em!
I'm depressed enough as it fucking is!
Mom!
Yeah?
You ain't going out again tonight, are ya?
Denise and I are gonna grab a couple of beers, yeah.
Denise gonna be driving ya?
Angela, why don't you just ask me if you can borrow the car?
- Can I borrow the car? - No.
Bitch!
I'll give you money for a taxi
if you ask me nice and don't call me a bitch.
Why did you make me ask you borrow it if you was never gonna let me borrow it?
Cos it was funny. And cos you've been smoking pot all day.
- You are such a hypocrite! - 'Hypocrite, '
How?
You drove drunk with us in the car when we was kids.
What are you talking about?
Daddy told me.
- When did you see him? - don't change the subject.
Did you or did you not drive drunk with us in the car when we was kids?
Once. Maybe.
Oh, 'once, ' okay...
...when he was in the middle of beating the shit out of me...
Which we've only got your word about, right?
Angela, For Christ's sake...
Oh why are you never on my side, Robbie?
I'm always on your side when you're not being a cunt.
- Hey! - Hey!
There'll be no more 'Cunts' in this house, you got that, Mister?
What, are you moving out?
It was a gag!
So are ya gonna let me borrow the car or what?
Why don't you just walk, Angela?
- Why don't you just walk? - You know what,
I will walk,
I will walk. And y'know what?
I hope I get raped on the way.
Yeah? Well I hope you get raped on the way too!
We're gonna need to keep you in a few days, Bill.
You shouldn't be coughing up blood.
Yeah, I kinda guessed that, Doc.
I'll swing by in the morning. Anne.
Anne.
Guess I'll go get your coat, huh?
- Well you know I ain't staying... - And you know I ain't arguing.
You... old... cunt.
I'm not old, Robbie.
That's Dad!
Hey dad! How's it going?
Where's the crazy lady...?
The kid's got Rice fucking Krispies in his fucking hair!
What's going on around here? And what the fuck's
going on with these fucking billboards, Mildred?
- Kinda self-explanatory, ain't it? - Well why don't you just explain it to me?
Guess it ain't self-explanatory then.
Well, y'know, I guess I wanted certain people's
minds kept on certain people's jobs, is all.
I hadn't heard a word from 'em in seven goddam months, but I tell ya this,
I heard an awful lot from 'em since I put those billboards up...
You think this has focused their minds?
I'll tell you what it's focused their minds on. It's focused
their minds on how exactly are they gonna fuck you up.
The more you keep a case in the public eye,
the better your chances of getting it solved,
it's in all the guidebooks, Charlie.
How much those billboards cost?
Bout the same as a tractor-trailer.
- What the fuck are you laughing at? - Nothing.
Laughed at by a guy with fucking cereal in his hair!
How is Penelope?
- Huh? She's alright. - Why don't you invite her in,
- save leaving her sitting out there? - She's here?
- She's out in the car. - Oh. That explains it.
- That explains what? - I knew I smelled something.
Let her go.
Oh, um, I kinda needed to use the bathroom,
but if it's inconvenient, actually
it is inconvenient, isn't it, I can see it's
inconvenient, I can hold it, it's alright...
- It's the first door, down the hall. - Are you sure? I feel like I'm
- intruding... - Just go pee!
OK.
Look, you've said what you came to say.
Okay? Why don't ya just go get zoo girl and get the hell out of my house? Alright?
Um, actually, zoo-wise,
they were letting people go at the zoo, unfortunately,
and it was a case of “Last in, first out”, so, yeah,
unfortunately the zoo had to let me go.
But they were looking for people down at the horse-rides
for the disabled's, to look after the horses down there,
so I'm working down there now,
looking after the disabled's horses,
Don't say a word.
I wasn't gonna say a word.
You don't think I don't wish it had never happened?!
You don't think I don't wish she was still here
I know you do.
Billboards ain't gonna bring her back, Mildred.
Neither is fucking nineteen year olds, Charlie.
Yeah.
But I know that.
Just go.
Yeah, alright,
I'm such a shitty dad and you're such a great mom. Alright.
So how come
a week before she died she comes around asking
if she can move in with me at my place,
cos she couldn't stand the two of yous bitching at each other no more,
- and fighting with each other no more.. - I don't believe you...
And I said “No, stay at home, your mom loves you.”
And now I wish I hadn't,
cos if I hadn't she'd still fucking be here!
- I don't believe you! - Don't believe me.
Ask Fruit Loop boy.
Is it true?
I don't know, mom.
Yeah, you do.
Oh come on
Donald Sutherland again! What is this, a freaking Donald Sutherland season?!
I like him.
I like his hair. - Hair.
This is the one where his little girl dies.
Always a plus in a movie!
Talking of dead kids,
what's happening with the Billboard lady?
Oh that cooze won't listen to reason.
She's as tough as an old boot!
Oh. Why don't you just fuck her over thru her friends then?
- Huh. - Y'know,
why don't you fuck her friends over? Bring her around out way.
Has she got some friends you could fuck over?
Bastard.
Hey fuckhead?!
- What? - Don't say 'What', Dixon,
when she comes in calling you a fuckhead, and don't you come in here...
- Shut up!
- You! Get over here. - No.
You get over here.
- Alright... - What?! Don't... Dixon!
What?! I'm taking care of this!
- You do not allow a member of the public to call you a fuckhead in the station house!
That's what I'm doing, I'm taking care of it! In my own way. Actually.
Now get out of my ass! Mrs. Hayes.
Grab a seat. What is it I can do for you today?
Where's Denise Watson?
- Denise Watson's in the Clank. - On what charge?
- Possession. - Of what?
Two marijuana cigarettes. Big ones.
- When's the bail hearing? - I asked the Judge not to give her bail
on account of her previous marijuana violations and the Judge said sure.
You fucking prick.
You do not call an officer of the law
a fucking prick in his own station-house, Mrs. Hayes.
Or anywhere, actually.
What's with the new hard-boiled attitude, Dixon?
Your momma been coaching ya?
No. My momma doesn't do that.
Take 'em down,
you hear me?
You did good, Dixon.
Yeah, I know I did.
Now, the rules here are twofold;
no kid
can leave this goddam blanket at any goddam time,
and every single one of these dolls and these teddy bears
has gotta be hooked up.
Now, your momma and I,
although it won't look like it, we'll be watching every goddam move you make
and the most important thing while we're watching you
is you do not leave this blanket.
The next most important thing is you do not
at any stage
allow the fishing rods to stick into you or your sister's eyeballs,
as this would be counter-productive to the entire operation.
What would this be?
Counterproductive to the entire operation.
Then troops...
start fishing.
We. Are. Not.
We are.
Hey, baby.
Yeah!
Still no arrests.
How come, I wonder?
Cos there ain't no God and the world's empty
and it don't matter what we do to each other?
Ooh, I hope not.
How comes you came up here outta nowhere, looking so pretty?
You ain't trying to make me believe in reincarnation or something, are ya?
Well, you're pretty, but you ain't her.
She got killed,
and now she's dead forever.
I do thank you for coming up, though.
If I had some food I'd give it ya,
but I've only got some Doritos and It might kill ya, they're kinda pointy.
Then where would we be?
Oh, Mildred.
Yeah, so I
uh, just happened to be looking over our contract we drew up
back that time, and what I realized was,
I realized that although payment is to be made
on the first day of each month,
the first payment you paid was actually a deposit,
wasn't it, like we said, so actually, in point of fact, you're actually
behind in your payments now, by,
yeah, a month.
Yeah. That's, uh,
what the contract says. Looking it over an' all.
The lawyer says so too.
When do you need this next payment by, Red?
Uh, well, now, really.
Or... Fuh uh... Friday?
Wow.
When you can't trust the lawyers and the advertising men,
what the hell's America coming to, huh?
Who got to ya Red?
Willoughby?
- Nobody got to me. - My fat fucking ass!
He's dying, Mildred.
We're all fucking dying!
Red?
Oh, hi Pamela! Um, we're a little bit busy, at the moment,
Pam, if that's okay...
Oh Red, I know, and I know you were real anxious
about talking to Mrs. Hayes this morning and all...
Anxious? No.
But that's the thing, there's no need to be, cos you won't believe it!
A little Mexican delivery boy just dropped in with this...
What the hell's this?!
- I know! It's five thousand dollars! And guess what
the note says? It says it's to pay for the rental on Mrs. Hayes's billboards!
Can you believe it? That's why I butted in!
- Well, who's it from? - Well, it doesn't say.
Well, where's the delivery boy?
Well, he went.
- Well, did you see what company he was from?
- Well, no. - Well, what kinda uniform did he have on?
Well, he just looked like one of those fat little Mexican boys.
On a bicycle?
Did I do something wrong? - No, Pam, you did good.
Yeah, Pam, you did real good.
Did I? Great!
Ain't life crazy?
What's the note say Red?
Says, er,
“This here money is to go towards the fund for Mildred Hayes's billboards,
cos she ain't the only one round here who hates the pigs.
Signed, a friend.”
Jeez, I guess ya can't be picky who your friends are these days, huh?
Um, I guess I'll be needing a receipt off ya Red,
y'know, saying the price of next month's is paid in full an' all.
Oh. Sure, Mildred, sure.
Yeah. Like, now.
Oh! Sure!
Is mommy drunk, daddy?
No, no, she's just got a little migraine, that's all.
A little Chardonnay migraine,
now no more chit chat out of you two, ok?
Can we stay home from school again tomorrow, daddy?
We'll see what your mommy says in the morning, darling...
Aww!
Eyes close.
Then go to sleep, ok?
You don't smell of puke.
Which is good.
Aquafresh. Trick I learned.
Women, huh?
It's still your turn to clean the horseshit outta the stable, y'know?
Those fucking horses!
They're your fucking horses! I'm gonna have those fucking horses shot!
I'll do it,
you lazy bitch.
Thank you, poppa.
That was a real nice day.
And that was a real nice fuck.
You got a real nice cock, Mr. Willoughby.
Is that from a play,
“You got a real nice cock, Mr. Willoughby?” I think.
I heard it in a Shakespeare one time.
You dummy.
It's Oscar Wilde.
"Oscar Wilde."
My darling Anne.
There's a longer letter in the dresser drawer
I've been writing for the last week or so.
That one covers us,
and my memories of us,
and how much I've always loved you.
This one just covers tonight,
and, more importantly, today.
Tonight I have gone out to the horses to end it.
I cannot say sorry for the act itself,
although I know that for a short time you will be angry at me
or even hate me for it.
Please don't.
This is not a case of “I came in this world alone,
and I'm going out of it alone” or anything dumb like that.
I did not come in this world alone, my mom was there,
and I am not going out of it alone,
cos you are there,
drunk on the couch,
making Oscar Wilde cock jokes.
No. This is a case, in some senses, of bravery.
Not the bravery of facing a bullet down;
the next few months of pain would be far harder
than that small flash.
No, it's the bravery of weighing up
the next few months of still being with you,
still waking up with you,
of playing with the kids,
against the next few months of seeing in your eyes
how much my pain is killing you;
how my weakened body as it ebbs away
and you tend to it are your final and lasting memories of me.
I won't have that.
Your final memories of me will be us at the riverside,
and that dumb fishing game
which I think they cheated at,
and me inside of you, and you on top of me,
and barely a fleeting thought
of the darkness yet to come.
That was the best, Anne.
A whole day of not thinking about it.
Dwell on this day, baby, cos it was the best day of my life.
Kiss the girls for me,
and know that I've always loved you,
and maybe I'll see you again if there's another place.
And if there ain't,
well, it's been Heaven knowing you.
Your boy...
...Bill.
What the Hell's going on around here?
What?
Can you stand now?
I can stand
I'd better get out there,
say something to 'em.
You ain't gonna faint again, are ya?
I know... that the best thing,
the only thing,
to honor that man's memory right now,
is to go to work.
Is to be a
good cop.
Is to walk in his shoes.
Is to do what he did, every day of his life.
Help people.
What the hell is going on?
Where are you going?
You fucking pig!
What the fuck are you doing?!
Shut up!
See, Red?
I got issues with white folks too...
The fuck are you looking at?
Reports, sadly, have come in overnight,
that Chief William Willoughby of Ebbing, Missouri,
took his own life early this morning in the grounds of his home.
This report just in from Gabriella Forrester.
Tragedy came calling today upon this quiet family home
outside of Ebbing, Missouri;
a home belonging to Chief William Willoughby,
his wife, Anne, their two young daughters, Polly and Jane.
What appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound
brought life to an end for Chief Willoughby,
a man highly respected in Ebbing
for his diligence and his service to the community,
What led him to take his life in the early hours of this morning
it is too early to speculate;
there were rumors of illness;
could it simply have been the pressure of the job;
or could it have something to do with a story we ran here just two weeks ago,
of these billboards, and the woman who put them there,
...Mildred Hayes.
Don't. Don't.
Hey there.
Do you know who threw that can?
What can?
How about you, sweetheart? Do you know who threw that can?
Uh, no, I didn't really see...
Thank you mom.
And what can I do for you today, Sir?
What's your name?
Name's on my tag, man.
You hard of reading?
Hard of reading
no, no. That's good, “hard of reading”. It's kind of like “hard of hearing”,
but it's actually it's “hard of reading',
it's like a play on words or something huh.
What do you want?
Uh, I've been sent down to uh, take over from.
Chief Willoughby, in light of last night's unfortunate event.
You have got to be fucking kidding me!
Do you have any documentation to prove that, Sir?
You really wanna see my documentation, fucker?
Yeah, see his documentation!
Should make him show it to you.
None of you cracker motherfuckers got no work to do?
Ain't that racialist?
What happened to your hands, Officer Dixon?
Oh, I just kinda
banged 'em up a little bit while I was throwing
some guy out of a fucking window. Y'know,
the usual. - Oh yeah?
They never taught me that one at the Academy.
Which fucking Academy you go to?
How's things coming along on the Angela Hayes case?
How's things coming along on the 'Mind your own fucking business' case?
How things coming along on the hand me your gun and your badge?
- Huh? - Hand me your gun and your badge.
Shit.
I can't find my badge.
No, seriously. Maybe I lost it
or dropped it when I was doing the window guy?
Just get out of my station house, man.
What's going on?
I think I just got fired.
Fired or suspended, I'm not sure which...
Fired.
Anything I can help you with, just gimme a holler.
Give Mildred Hayes
a holler.
Okay.
You know me?
Only from the TV,
and the radio.
How much these here 'Welcome to Missouri' rabbits go for?
Seven bucks.
It's writ right on 'em.
Guess he ain't seven bucks now.
Why'd you coming here for?
What did I come in here for?
Well, maybe I'm a good friend of Willoughby's, how about that?
Are you?
Or, y'know...
maybe I was a friend of your daughter's or something.
How about that?
Were you?
Or, uh,
y'know, maybe I was the guy who fucked her while she was dying?
How about that?
Were you?
No.
I would've liked to.
I saw her picture in the paper there.
Saved by the bell, huh?
You owe me seven fucking dollars for the rabbit.
Guess you'll have to get it off me next time I'm passing through, huh Mildred?
I guess I will.
You don't know how glad I am to see you.
- What?! - That guy was trying to scare me.
I wouldn't have said you scare easy.
I ain't the worst.
What can I do for you, ma'am?
My husband left this for you before he shot himself in the head last night.
- I'm sorry, Mrs. Willoughby... - Are you?
Are you really?
Sure I am.
Surely it's the perfect ending for you, isn't it?
It's proof
that they've been successful, these billboards
of yours, isn't it, a dead policeman?
It's quantifiable now.
- Are you blaming this on me? - no
I'm not blaming this on you. I just came to give you the letter.
Now, my two little girls are out in the car,
so I'd better not stay and chat.
I'm not quite sure what we're going to do for the rest of the day.
It's hard to know what to do
the day your husband kills himself.
It's hard to know what to do.
Dear Mildred,
Dead Man Willoughby here.
Firstly I wanted to apologize for dying
without catching your daughter's killer.
It's a source of great pain to me, and it would
break my heart to think you thought I didn't care,
cos I did care.
There are just some cases...
...where you never catch a break,
then five years down the line
some guy hears some other guy bragging about it in a bar-room
or a jail-cell
and the whole thing is wrapped up thru sheer stupidity.
I hope that might be true for Angela, I really do.
Second,
I gotta admit, Mildred, the billboards were a great fucking idea.
They were like a chess move.
And although they had absolutely nothing to do with my dying,
I'm sure that everyone in town will assume that they did,
which is why, for Willoughby's counter-move,
I decided to pay the next month's rent on 'em.
I thought it'd be funny,
you having to defend 'em a whole 'nother month after they've stuck me in the ground.
The joke is on you, Mildred, ha ha,
and I hope they do not kill you.
So good luck with all that, and good luck with everything else too.
I hope and I pray that you get him.
Well, do you want me to go down and talk to them?
No I don't want you to go down and talk to them.
Somebody sending their goddam mother down to talk to the goddam police.
And say what?
And say to give you your job back.
And to get rid of the black guy.
They ain't gonna listen to some guy's mother,
asking them to get rid of some black guy.
Things have moved on in The South!
Well it shouldn't've!
Will they give you some money for being laid off an' all?
I don't know what the compensation scheme is
for when you throw a guy out of a window, Mom.
I guess I shoulda looked into that beforehand. Let me Google that!
A couple grand, maybe?
You've been there three years.
Not counting the five years at the Academy.
Six!
If you count the year you were held back.
- Where ya going? - None of your business.
Off to see your fancy woman?
- I don't got a fancy woman. - Yeah. I know!
- Hey, You wanna watch yourself. - Or you'll do what?
I'm blowin' your goddam head off.
- Oh, did you hear the news? - What news?
That Dixon guy threw that Welby guy out his window this morning.
You're shitting me.
Is he okay?
You're shitting me!
Woah! Shit!
Holy Shit!
Fuck!
Go get the other one from the house!
Shouldn't I call the fire department?
Fuck the fire department! They probably started it!
Well don't do anything stupid!
Scumbags, scumbags, scumbags. Fucking scumbags.
Shit!
Alright.
Are you kidding me?
Mom, What the hell are you doing?
Okay, Alright. Come on...
Leave it, Ma. Please It's too late.
- Robbie. - Mom, leave it, please!
Robbie!
How are those hands?
Give us a minute.
Can I ask you a couple questions?
You can ask me all the questions you want if you take me down and arrest me.
I'm not gonna arrest you, Mrs. Hayes. I got nothing to arrest you for.
Not yet you ain't.
We ain't all the enemy, y'know?
I'll crucify the motherfuckers.
What are you gonna do to 'em, Mildred?
You're gonna crucify 'em, you say?
Yeah, I'm gonna crucify 'em.
Who you gonna crucify?
The motherfuckers?
Yeah!
I'm gonna crucify the motherfuckers.
Well, then those motherfuckers better watch out then,
huh?
Fucking A!
What's this shit...?
...and as sad as the spectacle of these burned out billboards might be,
in light of the death of Chief Willoughby,
this reporter for one can't help but wonder whether this finally puts an end
to the strange saga of the three billboards outside of Eb...
This don't put an end to shit, you fucking retard,
this is just the fucking start,
so why don't you put that on your “Good Morning Missouri fucking Wake-Up Broadcast”, bitch!
I see on the TV there was a buncha fires lit outside o' town last night.
Buncha fires, huh?
Out at those billboards.
Yeah, well, back when I was a cop I woulda been interested in who set those fires
cos, technically, that's arson,
but as I am no longer employed by those people
I don't really give a good god damn, now do I?
The Dixon residence.
Hey Dixon.
Hey, Sarge.
- You got any news? - News about what?
I dunno,
about my job and stuff?
No, no. What?
No.
Anne Willoughby just dropped in a letter
that Bill wrote you before he died.
Oh my God! What's it say?
I haven't read it, Dixon, it's not my letter.
Oh. Listen, I'll come right down...
I'll be there in like 15 minutes.
Well, uh... I don't think that'd be such a great idea,
as things stand, Jason.
Uh, you've still got your keys to the station-house though, right?
Yeah.
Well, why don't you just come pick it up when everyone's gone home.
I can leave it on your desk for ya.
Oh. Okay.
Actually, yeah,
then when you're done you can
just leave the keys,
save us picking 'em up later.
Alright.
Jason, Willoughby here.
I'm dead now, sorry about that,
but there's something I wanted to say to you
that I never really said when I was alive.
I think you've got the makings of being a really good cop, Jason,
and you know why?
Because, deep down,
you're a decent man.
I know you don't think I think that, but I do, Dipshit.
I do think you're too angry, though,..
And I know it's all since your dad died and
you had to go look after your Mom and all...
But as long as you hold onto so much hate
then I don't think you're ever going to become...
What I know you wanna become...
A Detective.
Cos you know what you need to become a detective.
And I know you're gonna wince when I say this...
But what you need to become a detective...
is Love.
Fuck 'em!
Because thru Love comes Calm,
and thru Calm comes Thought.
And you need Thought to detect stuff sometimes, Jason.
It's kinda all you need.
You don't even need a gun.
And you definitely don't need Hate.
Hate never solved nothing...
But Calm did.
And Thought did. Try it.
Try it just for a change.
No-one'll think you're gay.
And if they do, arrest 'em for homophobia!
Won't they be surprised!
Good luck to you, Jason.
You're a decent man,
and yeah you've had a run of bad luck...
But things are gonna change for you...
I can feel it.
Calm.
So what did you see?
Well when we turned the corner from Spring,
the fire was already raging,
and then
two seconds later the cop guy just jumps out the window...
Wait.
The two of you turned the corner from Spring?
- Where were you before this? - Round at my place.
You two are boyfriend and girlfriend?
Well, it's early stages, y'know.
That right?
We've had a couple dates.
So you wanna go out to dinner next week?
I'll go out to dinner with ya.
But I ain't gonna fuck ya.
Well, I ain't gonna fuck you neither.
I guess.
Burn victim.
He's pretty heavily sedated.
Hey man?
You doing okay? Jeez,
you got burned up pretty bad.
You'll be okay though.
You want a glass of orange juice?
I got a straw somewhere...
Hey.
Don't cry.
You'll be okay.
I'm sorry, Welby.
- You know me? - I'm sorry.
Sorry for what?
For throwing you out the window.
- I'm sorry man. - I don't care.
And stop fucking crying.
The salt'll just fuck up your wounds.
I thought salt was supposed to be good for wounds.
Well what am I, a fucking doctor?!
Who is it?
Oh you don't know me really.
Well what you want?
I come about the billboards.
What about 'em?
They got burned up.
I know that.
I'm one of the guys who put the 'em up in the first place.
Jerome.
What can I do for ya, Jerome?
Well, y'know, when you're putting up a buncha posters like that,
just in case any of 'em gets screwed up or torn,
they give ya a set of duplicates, y'know?
No, I didn't know that.
Ladder's pretty steady as it is, there, James.
Oh, that's okay. I like holding ladders.
It takes me out of myself.
- Need a hand? - Hey.
- When'd you get out? - Hour ago.
Judge threw it out, said the arrest report weren't filled out right.
Say, you.
Say, you didn't burn down the police station, did ya?
No. She was with me the whole night.
- It's a long story. - Okay.
- Hey.
Hey.
You sure you still wanna put up the Willoughby one, him dead an' all?
Why not? He paid for it.
True.
Look, this fucking asshole.
Well, here we are
here we are.
I like cheesy things.
I'm gonna look for cheesy things.
Alright.
Who's that?
My ex-husband.
And his nineteen year old girlfriend.
- You wanna leave? - No, no.
A deal's a deal.
It was fucking wild, man,
I think I was certifiably fucking insane for a while back there.
When was this?
Bout nine, ten months ago.
- Were you on your own or what? - No, had a couple buddies with me.
- Oh yeah? - Yeah.
They fuck her too?
I think they got their kicks just watching, you know.
- Uhuh. Yeah? - Yeah.
Was she hot?
After the gasoline kicked in she was hot.
That's when I really wanted to fuck her even more.
I don't know if I could get that out.
I ain't going down for that shit, last fucking day down there...
He been there the whole time?
Who?
Burnt-face-Jake. Keeps fucking walking up and down.
I don't know. I don't think so.
- Another round. - Yeah.
Eight bucks.
Maestro.
Can I help you with something, man?
Excuse Me?
You've been looking over here all fucking night,
now, unless you got something to say to me,
why don't you take your burnt fucking face and get the fuck outta here, okay?
What are you doing?
- What are you doing? - Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...
Just trust me, okay?
You like magic?
- Just trust me... - Just do the fucking trick.
Okay.
What the fuck?
Hey.
Hey!
- Hey! That's enough now! - What's it to ya, fucker?
- The guy's a cop man! He's a cop! - The guy's a cop man! He's a cop!
He ain't wearing no badge.
I lost my badge.
I can't remember where I lost it.
You started this, man!
I didn't do shit to you.
I know I started it. I scratched you up like a bitch.
That's exactly fucking right...
Gotta use the little boys' room.
- You got something to say to me? - You got something to say to me?
Doesn't shitgirl have a curfew weeknights?
No, no, in fact I was actually gonna take her to the circus later,
but there's no need now. Does he juggle?
Look I'm having one dinner with the guy cos he did me a favor, okay?
You don't have to explain yourself to me cos
you're having dinner with a midget, Mildred.
- I'm not explaining myself to you. - You kinda are.
Look, I didn't come over to break your balls,
you can date as many midgets as you want.
No,
I came over to say I was sorry, actually.
Sorry for what?
I'm sorry about what happened to your billboards an' all.
Yeah well,
that's all water under the bridge now, I guess. - Good
I'm glad. I was pretty drunk, but it still don't excuse it.
All this anger, man,
Penelope said to me the other day,
it just begets greater anger,
y'know?
And it's true.
Penelope said 'Begets'?
Yeah,
'It begets greater anger'.
You take care of this little lady, okay sport?
Big lady, compared to you, right?
- You alright? - I think I'd like to go home now.
Don't gimme any shit, James? We can do this another time, alright?
Why would I wanna do this another time? You've been
embarrassed to be here ever since we arrived.
- Oh for Christ's sakes,
I didn't force you to come on this date,
alright? You forced me.
Forced you?
I asked you on a date.
Wow! Well, y'know,
I know
I ain't much of a catch, okay?
I know I'm a dwarf who sells used cars and has a drinking problem, I know that.
But who the hell are you, man?
You're that Billboard Lady who never ever smiles,
who never has a good word to say about anybody,
and who, in the evening times, SETS FUCKING FIRE TO POLICE STATIONS!
And I'M the one who's not a catch?!
Hey!
Y'know I didn't have to come and hold your ladder!
Now don't make a scene.
Did you really tell him “Anger begets greater anger”?
Oh! Yes!
I did! I didn't make it up myself though.
I can't claim that! No, I read it on a bookmark.
Which was in a book I was reading.
About polio.
Polo. No, which is the one with the horses? Polio?
- Polo? - Polo.
Be nice to her, Charlie.
You got that?
Jason!
Just leave me, don't look at me, Momma.
You..
No! Do not!
Don't.
Open up this door!
Please, Jason.
I'll help you.
Please, open the door.
Please.
Please, open the door.
Open up!
Jason!
I'm alright, Momma.
It's all gonna be alright.
I don't wanna get your hopes up, alright, but there's a guy,
and I think he might be the guy.
I got his DNA.
I got a lot of it, actually.
They're making the checks as we speak. - He's in jail?
No, but he ain't gonna be hard to find.
Why do you think he's the guy?
I heard him talking about something that he did to a girl
in the middle of last year.
I couldn't hear all of it, but
it sounded a lot like what happened to Angela.
Then he beat the crap outta me.
But cos of that
I got a bunch of his DNA.
So I wanted
to let you know sooner rather than later. I didn't want you to give up hope, y'know?
I've been trying not to.
Well, all you can do is try, as my Momma says.
Not so much about hope as about...
well, I didn't used to be
very good at English at school,
so it was more “All you can do is try...
to not be so crap at English.”
Cos you need English, really, if you wanna be a cop.
If you wanna be anything.
Really.
Unless you live in Mexico or something.
But who wants that?
Hey, Dixon.
Thank you!
You did good, Jason.
You did real good.
But he wasn't the guy.
What?
There was no match to the DNA,
no matches to any other crimes of this nature,
to any crimes at all, in fact.
And his record is clean.
Maybe he was just bragging.
He wasn't just bragging.
Well, that's as may be. But at the time of Angela's death
he wasn't even in the country.
Where was he?
But I've seen his records of entry and exit to the States,
and I've spoken to his Commanding Officer.
He wasn't in the country, Dixon.
He ain't our guy.
No, he ..
He might not be our guy, but he still done something shitty. I know he did.
Not in Missouri he didn't.
Where was he?
That's classified information. *
Come on, man.
If the guy's got a Commanding Officer,
and if the guy got back to the country nine months ago,
and if the country where he was is classified,
which country do you think he was in?
Hey, you know ..
I'll give you a clue.
It was sandy.
That doesn't really narrow it down.
All you need to know is,
he didn't do nothing to Angela Hayes.
So we're gonna keep looking.
Alright?
I found my badge after all.
Hello?
It's Dixon.
Tell me.
He wasn't the guy.
Mildred?
Are you're sure?
He, um, he wasn't even in the country when it happened.
So, whatever he did,
he didn't do it round here.
I'm sorry I got your hopes up.
It's alright.
At least I had a day of hoping. Which is more than I've had for a while.
I'd better go.
There was
there was one thing I was thinking.
What's that?
Well... I know he isn't your rapist.
He is a rapist, though.
I'm sure of that.
What are you saying to me?
I got his license plate.
I know where he lives.
Where's he live?
Lives in Idaho.
That's funny.
I'm driving to Idaho in the morning.
Want some company?
Sure.
Hey, Dixon.
Yeah?
I need to tell you something.
It was me who burned down the police station.
Well, who the Hell else would it have been?
Dixon?
Yep?
You sure about this?
About killing this guy?
Not really.
You?
Not really.
I guess we can decide along the way.
TRANSCRIPTED BY: FRANCISSUBS