Hard Truths

_survival is insufficient._


Marianne Jeanne-Baptiste is a revelation.

What another masterpiece Mike Leigh has created here thanks to superb acting by Marianne Jean-Baptiste. At times uncomfortable to watch. Despite Pansy constantly showing the worst of her character, she still seems to have a good sense of humour without noticing it or laughing at all herself. On the contrary. Heartbreakingly painful, brilliantly acted.

It's early in the year, but this is the best film of 2025 so far. Jean-Baptiste's performance is an absolute knock out. Truly a masterclass in raw, honest and heart breaking emotion, and yet somehow it's also hilarious. This film is simply an incredible vignette of a deeply depressed, anxious and lonely woman and her relationship with self and her family.

'Hard Truths' features superb performances and an extremely hearty narrative, it's genuinely one of the saddest films I've seen in a long while; these type of real, gritty stories are always more impactful to me than the more manufactured drama (not that that's bad).

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is outstanding as Pansy, a character that is on the surface quite unlikeable but due to her performance as well as smart writing it is actually easy to still care for the character; it's clear why she is the way she is. Michele Austin is also terrific, I couldn't put my finger on where I remembered her from - TV's 'This Is Going to Hurt'.

David Webber and Tuwaine Barrett are effective in their roles too, arguably not difficult characters to play but I did feel for them both. Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown and even Jonathan Livingstone manage to stand out too, albeit comparatively minorly versus Jean-Baptiste and Austin.

As saddening as this film can be, there is also a fair bit of comedy thrown in there - most, if not all, of which is funny. That scene with Jean-Baptiste and Gary Beadle sticks out, even if Beadle's character is rather over the top. The blend of humour and serious is perfect.

For the third week running (weirdly, having not ever happened before), I got to see two films at the cinema back-to-back. This week, it was this and Drew Hancock's 'Companion'. Safe to say, two very different movies! Highly enjoyed them both though.

There was something deeply meaningful about this movie to me. My granny was a lot like this character, like to a shocking degree, and the character dynamics and history that played out on screen felt very accurate and really rang home to me. The first part of the movie is fucking hilarious, I literally could not stop laughing. It takes a bit to learn who the characters are and figure them out. But then the further you get into the movie, the more deeper it gets and the more I liked it. And that ending scene really stuck with me. I'm going to be thinking about that for a long time.

I’m usually the first to get bored of a movie that’s more of a character study than a story. But Jean-Baptiste is fantastic in this movie and the writing gives us a character who you can’t look away from. I want her to finally experience one moment of happiness, but I also want someone to slap her.

Final review of 2024!

LIFF38 2024 #6

“I don't understand you, but I love you.”

Hard Truths is a welcoming return from legendary filmmaker/writer Mike Leigh.

I have no idea why this film was rejected from other festivals like Cannes and Venice because this was great. It is a depressing character piece where certain things in our past are left unresolved, and the unspoken hurt still picks away at us. Mental health issues are not just sadness and quietness but anger as well.

We follow Pansy, whose first-ever scene is her springing to wake after having a terrible dream, and from there, she is in a constant state of rage at pretty much everything. The littlest things can set her off into a rant. Her words/insults range from hilariously creative to having some truth to what she is complaining about. It mostly has to do with how people talk to her, with one example of a scene in a parking lot when another driver starts an altercation after rudely asking if she is leaving her parked space.

How about another scene where she goes to the dentist, and the woman doing the treatment talks to her in a manner that is not meant to be disrespectful and tries to ease the patient with friendliness during the process but can be seen as being treated/talked to like a child. Even Pansy says, “Don't talk to me like a child!”

But this is not a simple case of waking up cranky or having a bad day. It is something more than that. Judging by her family life, with her husband and son, they are all miserable, most noticeably her son and husband, who carry this heavy silence and hardly make eye contact. There is no love or comfort in the house.

On the other hand, Pansy's sister lives the opposite life; she is happier and has a healthy relationship with her children. Even her flat is more vibrant in colour and feels more inviting.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is terrific here, and what could have easily been a one-note performance is, instead, a devastating but exhausting performance of a woman who needs a lot of help. But she is still someone you want to avoid if you are in close contact. Even her angry outburst tires her out.

It is a very human film with beautiful writing and acting. The film shows the sad reality of how our mental health can isolate us from other people, even our own family. There is no concrete answer to why Pansy is like this. There are little crumbs of a backstory, but it is left open-ended. Situations like this are like the ocean: it is much deeper than it looks. The cinematography from Dick Pope (RIP) is subtle and nothing too flashy.

This movie and another film I saw at this festival, A Real Pain, almost feel similar in terms of a complicated family dynamic and the different lives the characters lead, where one is happier than the other.

Overall rating: The ultimate feel-bad movie of 2024.

Well, 2024 is done and dusted. I hope you all had a great year, and if not, I hope 2025 is better for you. I will see you there. Take care, everyone!

3/10. 3 is only for MJB who is amazing in the role.

The movie is not a comedy but I thought the main character was hilarious. We all know a cranky piece of work like her, don't we? I didn't care much about the second half after the cemetery visit, though.