Hard Truths
Directed by Mike Leigh
Written by Mike Leigh
Starring Marianne Jean Baptiste, Michele Austin
Released September 2024
Published December 2nd, 2024
Hard Truths is a hard watch. The film centers on a performance by Marianne Jean Baptiste, who portrays Pansy, that is often deeply unpleasant. Pansy is a miserable woman whose undiagnosed depression is expressed via deep seated anger and resentment of everyone around her. And I do mean everyone. This includes her patient and devoted husband Curtley (David Webber), their deeply morose son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), and Pansy’s loving and open hearted sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin).
But I said, everyone and I meant it. Thus, when Pansy leaves her home, which is a rarity, she inflicts her vitriol on store clerks, doctors, dentists, and anyone who comes across her path. The film is oppressive in presenting Pansy’s rage as a constantly boiling cauldron splashing molten anger as it begins to overflow everywhere. Pansy is so all-consuming that the movie switches gears to bring us into the lives of Chantelle and her two lovely young daughters, Kayla (Ari Nelson) and Aleisha (Sophia Brown) as a way of allowing the audience a moment to breathe.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.
