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Final review of 2024!

"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!

This film incisively and truthfully illustrates the trials and tribulations of mental illness, in this case ostensibly depression, and how it affects the loved ones of those afflicted. It is heartfelt, at times hilarious, and thought-provoking.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Pansy, a fitting name as she gives a vivid flowery performance, like the real-life eponymous flower, is excellent here at portraying a deeply troubled woman teetering on the brink of madness, hanging on by a thread. What could have easily fell into a caricature performance is the exact opposite: she feels so real, raw, and visceral, riding the line between sanity and insanity. She is at war with the world: the most normal petty inconveniences cause her to explode into hysterics, rage, and deep sadness; her reactions are sometimes so severe to the point she's at times unable to merely leave her bed. Michele Austin is great, playing Chantelle, the foil and sister to the lead. Where Pansy seems to be unhappy and unsuccessful, Chantelle is the opposite. Despite their differences, they support one another. And it's their sisterhood and camaraderie that functions as the film's anchor and centerpiece. The implication of their sisterhood is to drive home the point that family is key in life, a balm for the spirit. An interesting thing happens as the film furthers: the more time Pansy spends with her family, the more irritated she becomes, but it's also the more open she becomes about her feelings; it's as though her family simultaneously causes her to not only face her issues head-on, but face the reality that she does indeed have a good support network, but often fails to take advantage of it. This brings to the film an interesting dynamic. It's in these scenes with her family, particularly with her sister, that she finally lets down her tough, gruff exterior to betray a soft, mushy interior.

The film, despite at its core being a darker and moving subject matter, has many moments of welcome levity and playfulness. The comedy and gravitas meld flawlessly to make for both touching and funny viewing. The only issue this film has is that the pacing unfortunately drags rather often. As there is no real, significant plot here, besides following a middle-aged woman struggling mentally and existentially, the film feels very slice-of-life; the scenes unfurl with almost no change between when we first start the film to when we finish it. This is compounded by the dense dialogue and the secondary stories not really adding up to much ultimately, albeit the supporting characters are all good. But that is likely the conceit here: it ought to be about illustrating a snapshot of this character. Despite recognizing her issues, Pansy very well may never get better and things likely will always look this way, unfortunately similar to how life itself is for many with mental illness.

Overall, this is a great film. It's poignant, with a powerhouse central performance, unexpectedly and serendipitously humorous and diverting, and it provides a verisimilar portrait of dealing with mental illness.

Greetings again from the darkness. Mike Leigh has long been one of the most interesting filmmakers working. His projects vary greatly and include such gems as HIGH HOPES (1988), VERA DRAKE (2004), HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008), ANOTHER YEAR (2010), and MR TURNER (2014). His actors always seem at the top of their game in his films, and this latest is no exception. Marianne Jean-Baptiste tears into her role as Pansy, one of the most chronically agitated women you've ever experienced.

We witness first-hand as Pansy berates so many different people ... often for just doing their job (not up to her standard) or simply just being (in a spot Pansy doesn't want them to be). She's a non-discriminating grumpy woman whether shopping, visiting a medical professional, or even around her family. Her depressive nature tends to boil over as anger or an irrational sensitivity to most living things. Watching her lambaste her husband Curtley (David Webber) or her 22 year old son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) is cringe-inducing, yet it becomes quite curious when neither react to her outbursts. Their stone-faced demeanor says so much.

Pansy's sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) is quite the contrast as a normal woman, upbeat hairstylist, and mother of two well-adjusted adult daughters. Sisters Pansy and Chantelle planning a trip to visit their mother's grave for Mothers' Day somehow becomes the crux of the story, and exposes more of the pain Pansy lives with on a minute-by-minute basis.

This is Marianne Jean-Baptiste's return to the world of Leigh cinema - in 1996, she starred in SECRETS AND LIES, a much different role for the talented actor. This time she gets to epitomize what so many of us feel ... most people and most things across most of this world we live in are not quite right. Our ability to cope boils down to how we learn to live with all of the annoyances. Do we lash out? Do we take the abuse? Do we shift our attitude and find joy wherever possible ... making a positive impact? It's clear some folks don't possess the inner-strength to find peace. It's up to the rest of us to understand and help as best we can.

Opens in theaters on January 10, 2025.

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.

Hard Truths marks the 10th Mike Leigh film I've watched. Tonight, at Lincoln Center in New York, I saw his masterpiece Secrets and Lies followed by Hard Truths. Unfortunately, Hard Truths is one of the most miserable films I've ever seen.

The protagonist, played by the talented Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is constantly unhappy and abrasive. While her performance is excellent, the character spends the entire film yelling and complaining.

There is no discernible storyline and a complete lack of Leigh's uncharacteristic sense of humor. If this movie had been made by an unknown director, it likely wouldn't have seen the light of day. The only reason I gave this film 3 stars is due to Marianne Jean-Baptiste's acting.

It's disheartening to see how audiences are impressed by the media and blindly praise any production and the celebrities. Sadly, I found myself leaving the theater feeling that I'd just wasted an hour of my life.

I watched an advanced screening of this movie at the Middleburg film festival and found it utterly irredeemable. It lacked plot and real meaning, and because of it was almost impossible to watch. There was no part of this film that I enjoyed, nor did anyone in my party who watched the film with me. If you value movies that make you feel anything other than wretched, I would highly recommend not watching this film. The actors performances were commendable in the sense that I truly found Pansy to be the most unlikable character I have ever encountered. I left the theater feeling terrible, and I truly believe this was the worst movie I have ever watched. If I was not at a film festival, I would have walked out of the theatre. 0/10 stars.