The first trailer for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was just released and all I really have to say is that in the course of two and a half minutes, Frances McDormand c*nt-punts a teenager, calls Sam Rockwell “f*ckhead”, attacks a dentist with his own drill, cusses out a local TV reporter, and burns down a police station. What I’m saying is that this movie looks F*CKING INCREDIBLE and you need to watch the trailer right now, at least three times in a row.

The writer/director, Martin McDonagh, also made In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. Not unlike how Atomic Blonde gets a lot of currency because of its John Wick connection, Billboards is the third feature film from a filmmaker who has already proved to be exceptional. McDonagh has an ear for dialogue—he’s also a playwright—and an instinct for setting and tone that is only rivalled by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, and his own—and equally accomplished—brother, John Michael McDonagh. Observe the tone established by this trailer, particularly the line, “The police department is too busy torturing black folks to solve actual crimes.” It’s so pointed it’s stabby.

Three Billboards co-stars Woody Harrelson, coming off ace performances in Edge of Seventeen and Wilson. There’s no set release date, just the promise of “2017”, which isn’t soon enough. Can this movie come out tomorrow? Can it come out right now? Can it time travel to yesterday so that we can all have seen it already? Can I consume this movie intravenously? Can it be beamed directly into my brain? Can I get a Three Billboards sheet set and matching night light so that I can go to bed with this movie every night? Sometimes you worry a good trailer is writing checks the movie itself can’t cash (see also: Wonder Woman). But that’s not what worries me about Three Billboards. Given McDonagh’s track record, I don’t worry that he can’t deliver. I worry that Three Billboards will be so good our heads might actually explode.


Here's Woody Harrelson on The Tonight Show earlier this week.