15 Recent Movie Characters Destined To Be Iconic
11. Mildred Hayes - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards is an extremely powerful film, evoking the struggles of single parenthood and discussing contemporary views on an underfunded and understaffed police force. This is all topped off by the incredible performances of leading lady Frances McDormand, who won the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Mildred Hayes.
As if the title of the film didn't explain it well enough, Mildred rents three billboards on the way into her hometown of Ebbing accusing the police of failing to investigate the rape and murder of her teenage daughter. This strains her relationship with her still-living son, Robbie, the towns general love for police chief Bill puts the majority of people immediately at odds with Mildred (especially so after Bill takes his own life), and both all three billboards and the police station are burned down as a result of the chaos.
Although her position as the grieving mother should earn her all of the sympathy of the audience, Mildred's actions throughout the film show how multidimensional her character is: in a heartbreaking scene, her final interaction with her daughter is an argument in which Mildred says that she 'hopes [Angela] gets raped on the way' as she leaves the house.
Every single member of the cast puts in standout performances, no matter how small their role, but it is McDormand's that stole the show.