Hard Truths

Was this a good film? Yes. Did I like it? I'm not quite sure 'like' is the right word. There are parts which are comedic, where you feel like you shouldn't be laughing but can't help it because of the outrageous things that our protagonist Pansy spits out. But as the film goes on it becomes quite sad, like damn this is their everyday life and it's exhausting! It becomes exhausting for us too as viewers as we follow Pansy's day-to-day and witness conflict after conflict in every interaction she has. This is reinforced by the slow pace and lingering shots as we experience the characters' worlds in such painful detail. The acting is so good that makes it feel so real, almost as if I was watching a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Overall worth the watch. A reminder that you never know what is going on in others' lives..

Have you ever encountered someone-whether in your personal life or at work-who was utterly impossible to deal with? If so, be forewarned: this film might bring back unsettling memories. One of the main characters is an absolute terror, a person who seems to thrive on sowing misery and conflict. She wields her cruelty with precision, crushing the spirit of her child and husband until there's little left of their individual vitality. But she doesn't stop there. No, her toxic charm spills out into the world, leaving anyone in her path to contend with the emotional wreckage she leaves behind.

In stark contrast, the film introduces us to her sister, a character who could not be more different. Where the first thrives on malice, the sister exudes kindness, warmth, and a sense of grounded sanity. She serves as a foil, a reminder that even within the same family, people can embody profoundly different responses to life's challenges.

This contrast raises a central question: how can two people, raised in the same family, turn out so differently? The film dives into this mystery, exploring the forces that shape us-whether it's nature, nurture, or the choices we make as individuals. How does one person end up consumed by anger, while another finds the strength to let go and move forward with grace?

What a performance from Marianne Jean-Baptiste! AND - what a huge gap between her acting abilities and the narrative void that weighs down this film. I don't get the 7.3 stars. As a huge fan of Scerets & Mensonges, I was extremely happy when I heard about the release of Mike Leigh's new film here in France. So I rushed over and fell off a cliff! I had to wait half the film to see anything literally move (physically or internally). Then I said to myself, well, all I had to do was wait, the tension would arrive, and the decisive central flash would knock us off our feet and keep us in suspense until the end... Not so. God knows I love poignant films with slowness and unspoken elements, with palpable tension, inhabited characters who burst onto the screen with a single look, and to tell the truth, I know a number of them. But here, I was fundamentally bored. I didn't understand the point of three-quarters of the film: bottomless chatter (at the hair salon!! « Okay, we get it... »), presentation of characters who contribute little (the dancing sisters and this friend, what is their role in the action?), excessive behavior of the protagonist - we understood very well that she had a big problem, the latter being revealed in a nice short moment of emotion (the bare minimum..!). More towards the end, the lack of interest in the scenes, the rather bland secondary characters (the husband's colleague), the length of these scenes, all that to get where? "It's up to each person to decide" the director will say, but what if I can't decide anything since I'm missing the essential? Even Another Year, a little weak but quite good, seems like a masterpiece next to this Hard Truths. Very hard, & no truth anywhere to be known. Or please explain to me what have I missed.

Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies was a brilliant film and his latest film Hard Truths is just as brilliant and stars the same actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste as the unforgettable, Pansy. Hard Truths is funny, heart-warming, sad, but most of all, very human. There's never a false note, the characters are so beautifully written and performed and I can't wait to see all the nominations Marianne is going to get for this role. It's definitely a film that will make you laugh out loud and cry, and you may not like Pansy but you will still enjoy every minute you're with her. See Hard Truths as soon as possible.

I was one of the few who felt that Leigh's films Mr. Turner and Peterloo represented the best in his career in cinema. He finally had a high budget and his artistic craft met them perfectly. Hard Truths is a step back from this scale back into the social dramas he used to make, although this feels totally new for him at the same time. More it resembles All or Nothing in its approach, but is darker.

Pansy, a woman imprisoned by her own anger, trauma, and resentment, lashes out at those who love her-her husband, son, and especially her patient sister, Chantelle (played with grace by Michele Austin). We are immersed in Pansy's bleak world, where even well-meaning gestures from her family are met with fury and frustration.

The film's strength lies in its uncompromising gaze on Pansy's internal struggle, making it at times difficult to watch as her rage isolates her from the people who care most. His style, crossing social realism with formalism, risks alienating people with answers either too easy or not easy enough, but this to me is the greatness of his films. The film's setting within London's Black Caribbean community adds a unique layer, reflecting the emotional and external forces that shape Pansy's fractured relationships. You have to be sort of familiar with his films or risk being confused. Like a great author but a director, he has his own universe of ideas, moments, and characterizations, that you get immersed in.