MIKE LEIGH | UK, SPAIN | 2024 | 97 MIN | ENGLISH
Nearly three decades after receiving an Oscar nomination for Secrets & Lies, actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste reunites with revered director Mike Leigh for this biting, darkly funny, and deeply compassionate drama set amongst the Caribbean-British community of contemporary London. Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman whose neuroses and festering resentments toward the world around her often lead to furious tirades against everyone from family members to complete strangers. Her sister Chantal (Michele Austin)—a single mom who runs a salon—couldn’t be more dissimilar from Pansy. Warmhearted and easygoing, Chantal doesn’t give up on her cantankerous sister, even when Pansy is at her most exasperating. In typical Leigh fashion, the script for Hard Truths was developed in collaboration with the cast through a process of improvisation and gradual refinement, giving the film a lived-in specificity and fine-tuned attention to the nuances of human interaction. In a courageous, shattering performance, Jean-Baptiste adds subtle shades of vulnerability to Pansy’s dyspeptic demeanor, gradually revealing the deep pain and disappointment that made her who she is today.
Cast: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett
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