This review was originally submitted on 7th September 2024 during the Toronto International Film Festival. We are recirculating it now that Hard Truths is in limited theatrical release, with a wide release scheduled for January 10.
Characters in movies tend to wake up with a jolt and in a movie which is largely perceived to be a nightmare. So, when Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) the middle-aged leading character in Mike Leigh’s splendid film Hard Truths, terrifies herself into a state of being awake in the opening scenes of the film, we too assume that like most Pansy has an awful dream. But, during the picture, we start to get this even more obvious sense of Pansy — it is a preoccupation with the thought she experiences daily during sleep. It dawns on us that the true nightmare is the horrible world she is waking up to.
Portrayed by the remarkable Jean-Baptiste (who garnered an Oscar nomination for her role in Leigh’s 1996 film Secrets & Lies), Pansy is a woman who is perpetually anxious and terrified to the extent that it is almost pathological. This woman will always find something to yell at her son about every single day. And in this instance, an adult male named, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) who is her son, went out for a walk. She worries that he may be ‘loitering with intent’. In addition to this, Pansy also shouts at her husband for not giving her Moses a job since she believes that, if anything, it is a dismal prospect. She visits a furniture store and yells, “We have a new couch, why would you even think about putting your feet on it?” In addition, she yells at the clerks for even being civil to her. She has altercations with employees and other clients at the supermarket. To put it mildly, there is clear evidence for obsessive-compulsive behavior that is not being treated. Every single morning she wakes up and cleans her couch, as it is the only remedy she has available to her. She has severe anger issues, which is why she complains about doors that aren’t fully shut and kettles that are overfilled. Pansy’s home appears to be a place that is – clean, tidy, minimalistic. A vacant hotel room comes to mind. And because she hates the sight of “squirrel doo-doo and rancid bird droppings”, she won’t even take a step out into her deserted backyard.
If her observations were not enough to make someone laugh in any situation (such as the need for toddlers to wear cloaks and why babies should be fat), then her videos can make someone laugh because of the violence within them. And even more amusing were her rants. So, without a doubt, internet trollers frequently target Pansy.
Hard Truths is possibly the most entertaining film by Leigh in quite some time, however, as always, it is the sort of humor laced with an uncomfortable foreboding sense that something is blatantly off. We can remember David Thewlis who chronicled Johnny, the main character in Leigh’s Naked, in 1993. He also had a knack for cutting insults and entertaining monologues that were a harbinger of psychological ailments. At one point, Hard Truths is quite literally the negative version of Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky (2008), in which Sally Hawkins starred as an obsessively happy and approachable woman who ended up in a lot of unpleasant situations owing to her cross-eyed cheer. Here, it’s the negativity that is the source of pain and misery for Pansy’s people.
In addition, there’s evidence of a deterioration in her interpersonal relations. Moses and Curtley rarely say a word back to her. What good would it do? They have most likely been exposed to these kinds of tirades several times, although a few shots that have Pansy squirming are a strong pointer to increasing tension and anxiety within her. (The plan to shoot the film was made in June of 2020, so one has to consider the uppermost of her emotions then – fear and anger directed to the outer world). On the other hand, her younger sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin), runs a beauty salon but appears quite chatty and sociable. She has two lovely daughters who wonder why their aunt is so pale and unfriendly. Certainly, there is family history there; but that’s probably a little too simplistic as an explanation, and Leigh is not so easygoing; he gives us glimpses of history, and explains that there are many factors behind a history. We can all speculate and no one is bothered to know why, but the director is more concerned about reality, and how a person is impacted by other people around. He also tries to identify critical periods — those small conversations and actions which change the course of the world.
One of the common mistakes that people make is to forget to acknowledge the instinctive beauty of Leigh’s directing in the sailing through different moments of the film, while there are numerous, especially the one right at the end of the Hard Truths when one can see on these character’s faces the understanding that there would be no other moment in their lives that would be even remotely parallel to this one.
The film Hard Truths is being shown all over the world for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival and is the first feature film directed by Leigh in the past six years, and the first one directed by him in the last ten years that is set in modern times. Among his historical features, there is at least one that could be called a work of art (that is Topsy-Turvy which was made in 1999), but his vision works best in nowadays settings, it seems: Leigh’s creative thinking typically shines in the present day, he usually starts with a concept or with a location, even with a moment, then starts working with the actor to create the character through research and improvisation, so telling the stories of the films is more of a process rather than a prepared speech.
For over fifty years, that’s how he has gone about his work, and what a body of work it has been. Leigh’s working-class characters have an individuality and form that can only be derived from great intimacy, and they emit a poignant sense of familiarity as if they are just variants of people we may have met before. (Chances are, we all have someone like Pansy in our social circles.) But that dark edge of recognition comes with the marvelous consolations of art: Even at their bleakest, Leigh’s pictures are always alive, and his people always erupt with animation. Some filmmakers create films that one may use to restructure the whole of cinema in case the medium is obliterated. Mike Leigh creates films that one may use to restructure human beings in case human beings ever cease to exist.
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