‘Hard Truths’ Review – Marianne Jean-Baptiste Gives A Towering, Layered Performance [AFI Fest 2024]

Mike Leigh’s latest film poses a nearly impossible question to answer: is it possible to still have sympathy for somebody who has lost sympathy for everyone around her?

In Hard Truths, distributed by Bleecker Street, Leigh reunites with his Secret & Lies star, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, nearly 30 years later. And it’s a damn good part for the formerly Oscar-nominated actress. Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, an older Black woman who just doesn’t seem to know how to be happy in life. She gets into hasty arguments with everyone she comes across, whether it be at the grocery store or the dentist’s office. The smallest inconveniences tick her off, enough to ruin her entire day.

While many scenes in Leigh’s dialogue-driven script paint a devastating portrait of Pansy’s life, it’s through Pansy’s sympathetic sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin), that the audience starts to unlock the inner trauma that Pansy can’t escape. By observing everyday circumstances in Pansy and her family’s unremarkable life, Leigh dives into the nightmares that haunt Pansy — although perhaps never quite as deep as he ought to.

Hard Truths is first and foremost a character study, but Leigh is also keen on exploring the cycles of generational guilt through the silence of Pansy’s son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), and her husband, Curtley (David Webber). They don’t bother to fight back when Pansy scolds them for having no life ambitions, or whatever else is on her mind at the given moment. They are purposefully blank characters. The pathetic, unspoken acceptance that both Barrett and Webber portray adds an additional layer of solitude to this character study. Any hope that the audience may have for Pansy is drained by watching their family’s circular conversations in which only Pansy is talking.

Naturally, none of this would work without the formidable performance given by industry legend Jean-Baptiste. Her Pansy unleashes all of her anger at the world around her, but it’s almost easy to take her for granted in the first half. Once Leigh starts to pull away at Pansy’s cold-facing exterior, though, Jean-Baptiste’s performance molds into something much more complex and devastating. When you think you’ve seen all that Jean-Baptiste has to deliver, wait until you see Pansy fight to hold back tears.

Another standout performance that can’t go unnoticed is Austin’s turn as Pansy’s sister and hairdresser. Austin brings out the rare source of light and empathy in Pansy’s life while never shying away from Chantelle’s own questions about how to help her sister. Is it even worth extending an arm out?

Leigh’s talent for tapping into vulnerability from his actors continues in his reunion with both Jean-Baptiste and Austin, but here he also reteams with the late Dick Pope, who shot many Leigh films over his career. The camerawork mostly stays unassuming and stationary, allowing the deep-cut performances to play out in front of us, while also subtly capturing the nature and outdoor life around Pansy’s house that she is incapable of appreciating.

Some audiences will certainly wonder what the point of Hard Truths is as Leigh invests in a vicious cycle that can feel one-note. It’s intentionally unpleasant to watch, and this comes to bite the film by its meek conclusion where it’s unclear what more can be gained from watching Pansy suffer. But the cyclical family grief that Leigh spends most of the film astutely exploring makes for another worthy film in his ever-growing filmography.

Hard Truths played as part of the Luminaries section at AFI Fest 2024. The film is set to be released for an awards-qualifying run on December 6, 2024, courtesy of Bleecker Street. The film will expand to theaters nationwide on January 10, 2025. 

Director: Mike Leigh

Writer: Mike Leigh

Rated: R

Runtime: 97m