Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 97 mins

UK Distributor: Studiocanal

UK Release Date: 31 January 2025

REVIEWED AT BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2024

WHO’S IN HARD TRUTHS?

Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown, Jonathan Livingstone, Samantha Spiro

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Mike Leigh (director, writer), Georgina Lowe (producer), Gery Yershon (composer), Dick Pope (cinematographer), Tania Reddin (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Two sisters (Jean-Baptiste and Austin) have two very different reactions to grief…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON HARD TRUTHS?

Often known as a champion of British working-class storytelling, Mike Leigh has in recent years opted for slightly more ambitious historical fare such as Peterloo and Mr. Turner. Those may have been impressively crafted in a lot of areas, but they ultimately lacked some of Leigh’s strongest qualities, which come from the naturalistic and ultimately grounded ways in which he conveys pure human drama.

Luckily, he’s back to his old tricks with Hard Truths, a film that not only sees him returning to contemporary British environments, but also serves as a mini-reunion with his Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, in a role that is very, very different from the one she scored an Oscar nomination for. It is also a role that is bound to make or break Hard Truths for a lot of people, and understandably so: it is a difficult character in a film that is in and of itself quite difficult to comprehend, and even though it’s not exactly on the same level as some of Leigh’s more profound work, there is something interesting about watching a film like this about the worst person imaginable for this scenario.

Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman living in a comfortable suburban street with her plumber husband Curtley (David Webber) and her directionless adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). Pansy, by all accounts, is a horrible person to everyone around her, from her family to random people she crosses when out and about; she is argumentative, flippant, insulting and downright rude, even to those who are just trying to help or simply minding their own business. Meanwhile, we also follow her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), a hairdresser who lives in a small flat with her daughters Kayla (Ani Nelson) and Aleisha (Sophia Brown). Not only is she far more pleasant and friendlier to be around, but she also seems happier despite living a life that isn’t quite as affluent as her more miserable sister.

Unfortunately, Hard Truths spends a lot more time with Pansy than it does with Chantelle, so for much of the film we are treated to long scenes of the character just berating anything and anyone she sees fit, to where it almost becomes her entire personality after a while. You really feel sorry for everyone else around her, especially her husband and son who bear the brunt of her venomous verbal abuse, which has clearly affected their confidence and general social skills to a point where it’s almost a mystery why either of them haven’t simply cut her out of their lives already. Jean-Baptiste, in one of the fieriest roles of her career, really does sell this person’s horrific nature, and some of the stuff she comes out with – as horrible as it can often be – is memorably vulgar, but the idea of having to spend much of a movie with this person as our lead is a tall order, not to mention an extremely testing exercise in audience patience which could very well alienate a lot of viewers.

Of course, the reason as to why Pansy is such a vile person is later made apparent, in an effort to help us understand the character a bit more. Some poignant moments shared with the warmer-hearted Chantelle, played winningly by Michele Austin, bring out everything we need to know about the sisters’ dynamic and how they’ve coped in the face of grief, culminating in some tender scenes at Chantelle’s flat that feel like they could well have come out of one of Leigh’s earlier works like Secrets & Lies. There is some gorgeous filmmaking going on in these scenes, such as a bit of blocking and precise editing that reveals more about the dynamics of these characters more than the semi-improvised dialogue could ever express.

The fact remains, though, that someone like Pansy is still our main character, and even though it seems for a little bit that her curmudgeon-like ways have finally lifted, this is someone that you really don’t want to spend more than five minutes with, let alone ninety-odd minutes. It tests your patience in a less than comforting way, which I suppose is where the Hard Truths of the title comes in, but by the time it wraps up – at a point where it feels like more could be explored about this character and her effect on the world around her – you’re left conflicted over whether or not you are meant to have enjoyed this experience.

Even if you can stomach this nightmare of a lead character, Hard Truths feels like a basic return to form for Mike Leigh – which, for some, might be all that they need.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Hard Truths is a decent back-to-basics moment for Mike Leigh, who returns to contemporary British working-class storytelling with something that could potentially try the patience of the viewer, especially with a main character who is extremely difficult to tolerate for an entire feature.

Hard Truths was showing at this year’s BFI London Fim Festival!