December 7, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Mike Leigh
Culture Representation: Taking place in London in 2023, the dramatic film “Hard Truths” features a predominantly black cast of characters (with some white people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Two sisters with opposite personalities deal with various conflicts caused by the volatile sister.
Culture Audience: “Hard Truths” will appeal primarily to fans of filmmaker Mike Leigh, the movie’s headliners, and dramas that have uncomfortable but realistic portrayals of dysfunction in families.
“Hard Truths” is a raw and realistic portrayal of how toxic anger and untreated mental illness can affect a family. Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives a fierce and complex performance in this drama filled with verbal abuse and co-dependency. “Hard Truths” shows in authentic ways how family members often don’t know how to cope when someone in the family is mentally ill and is the type of person who would refuse treatment for this mental illness.
Written and directed by Mike Leigh, “Hard Truths” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and screened at other festivals in 2024, such as the New York Film Festval. The movie takes place in London in 2023 and was filmed on location. “Hard Truths” is the second movie collaboration between Leigh and Jean-Baptiste, who previously worked together in 1996’s “Secrets & Lies,” which received five Oscar nominations: Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Leigh; Best Supporting Actress for Jean-Baptiste; Best Actress for Brenda Blethyn; and Best Picture.
“Hard Truths” tells the story of two sisters with opposite personalities, but the more troubled sister gets the most screen time. Pansy Deacon (played by Jean-Baptiste), a homemaker, is constantly pessimistic, angry and argumentative. Her younger sister Chantelle (played by Michele Austin), who works as a hair stylist, is optimistic, cheerful and generally a peacemaker. Pansy and Chantelle were raised by a single mother named Pearl, who died in 2018.
Pansy lives with her husband Curtley (played by David Webber) and their 22-year-old son Moses (played by Tuwaine Barrett) in a middle-class house that Pansy likes to keep as clean and tidy as possible. It’s shown throughout the movie that Pansy has a lot of rage and paranoia. She starts arguments with almost everyone she comes into contact with, but then she makes it sound like the people she’s arguing with are the ones who are out to get her.
Pansy is also fearful of animals. Even the thought of a fly or other small insect getting into her house will make Pansy very upset, and she will most likely go into a rant about it. It’s one of the reasons why Pansy doesn’t like going into the house’s small backyard: She doesn’t even want to see any insects or other small animals. And she doesn’t like the thought of anyone walking on the backyard grass because she thinks they could possibly bring grass and dirt on the bottom of their shoes into the house.
Curtley is the owner of a small business called C.J. Plumbing. Moses is unemployed. Patsy deeply resents that Curtley has not trained Moses to work in Curtley’s business. Instead, Curtley works with an assistant named Virgil (played by Jonathan Livingstone), whom Pansy despises. Patsy constantly berates and insults Curtley and Moses, who don’t talk much and have all the indications of being worn down by her verbal abuse.
It’s in stark contrast to Chantelle, a single mother, who has a happy and healthy relationship with her two bachelorette daughters, who are both in their 20s: Kayla (played by Ani Nelson) works in marketing at a beauty company, while Aleisha (played by Sophia Brown) works as a paralegal. Chantelle has the type of open relationship with her daughters that Kayla and Aleisha talk about their nightlife activities and their love interests with Chantelle, who is content to have her life revolve around her work and her daughters. Kayla and Aleisha have upbeat and friendly personalities, which are no doubt influenced by the fact that they grew up in a happy household with a loving parent.
“Hard Truths” is a “slice of life” movie that shows all of these characters (except for Virgil) inside and outside ther homes. During the course of the movie, bits and pieces of information are revealed about Pansy that are explanations for why she is the way that she is. And a portrait emerges of someone who is actually depressed but uses anger to lash out at people. It’s open to interpretation how long Pansy has had these issues with anger and mental health.
Pansy constantly complains of aches and pains in various parts of her body. But scenes of her during a doctor’s appointment and during a dentist’s appointment show that these aches and pains are probably in her imagination because they seem accustomed to Pansy being a difficult complainer. At the end of the doctor’s appointment, Pansy is miffed that they didn’t even do a blood test or X-ray test for her. It’s an indication that the medical professionals who deal with Pansy know that there’s nothing wrong with her physically, which is why they didn’t bother doing the medical tests that she expected to get.
In addition to apparently having hypochondria, Pansy often sleeps during the day, which is an obvious sign that she’s depressed. And multiple scenes in the movie show that Pansy is easily frightened when she’s awakened by someone. When she’s startled out of sleep by someone, she acts as if that person was about to attack her. An early scene in the movie shows Pansy suddenly waking up and looking as if she just had a nightmare.
A lot of Pansy’s vicious rants might get laughs from viewers, even though someone like Pansy in real life wouldn’t be considered amusing. It’s eventually revealed that Pansy has had a lot of feelings of inferiority and resentment, going back to her childhood, when her father abandoned the family. Her mother Pearl often left Pansy in charge of taking care of Chantelle because Pearl was busy working.
Pansy is the type of person who wants people to be as miserable as she is. “Hard Truths” doesn’t really judge Pansy, but the movie shows in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that bullies such as Pansy are often insecure cowards, and there are reasons why they are so emotionally damaged. And if a person with these anger issues is mentally ill, will that person get professional help (therapy) for these issues?
A turning point in the story happens on Mother’s Day, when Pansy and Chantelle visit their mother’s grave and then go back to Chantelle’s place for a Mother’s Day lunch with Curtley, Moses, Kayla and Aleisha. It’s in these scenes that Pansy shows a vulnerable side that doesn’t erase all the awful things she’s said and done, but it provides a deeper understanding of who Pansy really is when she isn’t scolding people or causing arguments.
Jean-Baptiste gives an intense performance that grabs viewers by the throat and doesn’t let go. Pansy is like an emotional arsonist who causes damage but then would be the type of person to blame whoever sold her the things that she used to start the fire. Jean-Baptiste’s performance does not make Pansy a one-dimensional villain but someone who is very complicated and hurts people because Pansy is deeply hurt herself.
As showy as Jean-Baptiste’s performance is, also effective are the performances of Webber and Barrett, who have the challenge of portraying people (Curtley and Moses), who are living lives of quiet misery. Webber is particularly skillful at showing the emotional pain in Curtley’s eyes in depicting someone who is trapped in an unhappy marriage. Moses is tall and overweight, but Barrett does an excellent job of showing that despite Moses’ large size, Moses feels very small when it comes to his self-esteem. It’s implied that Moses uses food to cope with his insecurities and the stresses he has from living with Pansy.
There are signs of co-dependence in this family. Curtley’s identity is wrapped up in being the “saintly spouse,” which is why he is so entrenched in the co-dependence that he has with domineering Pansy. If Pansy got help for her mental health problems and actually treated people with respect, where would that leave Curtley, who’s gotten used to being the morally superior spouse?
Chantelle is someone who doesn’t like to see the family in turmoil, but she’s not equipped or doesn’t want to deal with what can be done to help solve these problems. There are a lot of things that remain unspoken in “Hard Truths,” including how some families consider psychiatric therapy to be a stigma or taboo. No one dares to suggest to Pansy that she get help for her obvious mental illness because Pansy is the type of person who doesn’t think she’s mentally ill.
“Hard Truths” is not a preachy movie that suggests religion is the answer to the family’s problems. Nor is “Hard Truths” a “wish fulfillment” movie where the main character has a moment of clarity and suddenly decides to change her ways. “Hard Truths,” like the title says, takes a hard look at what can happen when anger and resentment are left to fester and can cause damage if not dealt with properly. It’s damage that all too often affects people in the worst ways, but “Hard Truths” shows in brutally honest ways that there is no magical and perfect solution.
Bleecker Street released “Hard Truths” in select U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 10, 2025.
