Final Rating: 3.5/5
Director Mike Leigh’s poignant family drama, Hard Truths, revolves around mental health, the value of family, and all the pain and joy that accompanies it. The story follows Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a middle aged woman living in England. She headlines a stellar cast whose performances evoke every emotion that washes over them as we chart their story. Pansy suffers from extreme anxiety and depression, often afraid to even go outside, constantly worrying about germs, animals, flowers (the irony of her being named Pansy is not lost here) her safety, all the while sleeping away her days.
She’s irritable, flying off the handle at a moment’s notice and critical to a point of caricature. She berates her husband Curtly (David Webber) and son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) to such a degree that they seem checked out, uninterested in even acknowledging her constant ranting. This causes a palpable detachment between them as well as her much more jovial sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) a hairdresser, and nieces.
The narrative often relies on quieter moments, in particular with Moses, a young man who seems isolated, unmotivated, and directionless. He’s content to play video games and lay around his room, often going for long walks, headphones on, seemingly to escape the house and Pansy’s constant negativity. He carries this melancholy like baggage and we feel a degree of sympathy for him though we can’t help but wonder if there’s some truth in her criticism.
While one would never mistake Pansy for being likeable, in particular early on as she berates anyone in her path for no particular reason, she does manage (especially as we see more of her struggle) to invoke a certain amount of empathy. In a visit to their mother Pearl’s grave (to which Pansy reluctantly ventures) to celebrate the anniversary of her passing, the sisters begin to argue about whether Chantelle was given preferential treatment by Pearl. When confronted, Pansy confides in her that she’s unable to find any joy in life, but is unsure why. She’s aware of her mental struggles but can’t seem to do anything about them, as is the case for many dealing with these issues.
It also highlights the other side of this disease, that when people suffer from these issues, their family is left to deal with the consequences every bit as much. Her niece asks her mother why she’s always defending Pansy, and accepting her selfish behaviour. This seems to be reinforced whenever Pansy relates a story about something that happened to her, only describing her version, and how stupid the other person was, or how they wronged her, but seems impervious to self-correcting the behaviour which irritated those she’s come across.
The dichotomy between the two sisters is clearly evident in their public interactions. Chantelle is well liked and pleasant with her customers while Pansy chastises everyone she comes across. At times these interactions hop from one to another without truly moving the plot forward but serve just to reinforce how miserable Pansy can be.
There is also a brief glimpse into the life of her niece at work, who despite doing a good job in a meeting with her boss, isn’t given the recognition or consideration her work deserves. This is however a one off, and would’ve been intriguing to have seen through. Pansy and Curtly’s relationship is strained and she confides in her sister that she’s been afraid to leave him. They exist in the same space but seem distant, as if content to go through the motions. Curtly is a sullen man, and seems resigned to their drifting further and further apart. The film is the type of human story that encapsulates their struggle while giving depth to the characters, and it’s no surprise Marianne Jean-Baptiste in particular is getting praise for her performance as a complex woman struggling to find the spark in life.
Thank you to Mongrel Media and StarPR for the screener.
