Hard Truths

It’s a film about ordinary Londoners living ordinary lives and facing normal challenges, from mental health to domesticity. Baptiste is toweringly real: formidable and heartbreaking in her performance.

Writer-director Mike Leigh is 81 years old, and his movies consistently have a fire that's practically adolescent while imparting a wisdom that's possibly ancient. "Hard Truths" is a tragi-comedy character study of near-febrile vitality. And, entering the sweepstakes rather late in the game, it's one of the very few great films of 2024.

With deep feeling and lacerating and gentle words, Leigh creates a world that, like the vast, mysterious one hovering outside its frame, can seem agonizingly empty if you can’t see the people in it.

In Mike Leigh’s lacerating new film, Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers a hall-of-fame acting triumph as a London housewife and mother who’s mad at the world and ready to give us all a tongue-lashing. She’s an emotional powderkeg ready to blow. Better duck

Hard Truths withholds catharsis, instead choosing simply to let the shutters swing open on its protagonist’s psyche for a brief interlude.

Leigh’s films can feel shaggy and unstructured on first viewing, and Hard Truths is no different. But there’s profound poetry in every scene.

Great turns don’t always amount to a great picture, and the unfortunate consequence of this no-frills directing approach is that the film-making can feel rather flat and functional – a display cabinet for the acting rather than a vital piece of storytelling.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The whole cast does an amazing job with challenging roles, but there’s so little substance that it’s hard not to feel their efforts wasted. If this were a series pilot, I would be much more enthusiastic.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste has been getting rapturous praise for her portrayal of a continually cranky woman. No matter the situation, her character manages to complain and assault almost anyone who comes into contact with her. This results in a desolate, doomed family life, as opposed to the happy relationships of her sister and nieces. Writer/director Mike Leigh is known for his deep character studies and this one takes matters to the extreme. Even though there are slight glimpses of the reasons for her damaged personality, Leigh decided to eschew any sort of grand reconciliation. This is an uncomfortable watch…one that hinges on the studied acting. Anyone hoping for warmth will find it a bleak disappointment. Sorry, I think a movie needs to offer more than scathing performances to create empathy, much less entertain.

Thin, and entirely forgettable. And amazingly for a Mike Leigh film- incredibly boring. I looked at my watch and saw there was 40 minutes to go, and was really down. Tedious, one-note characters thatdo not develop, face no crises and JUST DO NOT DO ANYTHING. I really think Mr Leigh should consider retirement. Urgently

For a film titled Hard Truths, Pansy sure doesn't face any. Her character is presented with one opportunity after another, to confront her struggle but never ultimately does. Even unto the end, when someone close to her actually needs her help. CONTINUE READING ON LETTERBOXD: ****/8E6TkV