Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) has a lot on her mind and wants everyone she encounters to know it. Serving up her brand of opinions like a bartender handing out free whiskey sours spiked with vinegar, she never misses an opportunity to offer harsh critiques of those around her. While Pansy's rants initially evoke chuckles from the audience, Mike Leigh's Hard Truths slowly reveals that her condition is no laughing matter.
Using her sharp tongue like a sword, cutting anyone who dares enter her sphere, Pansy's perpetual miserable state has taken its toll on her husband Curtley (David Webber) and their 22-year-old son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). Walking on eggshells, unsure of what will be the next thing to set her off, the father and son feel isolated in their own home. Barely able to carry on a conversation with the other, each man turns to the outside world for a sliver of peace.
The affects of Pansy's verbal assaults are far-reaching. Even when taking one of his frequent walks, Moses is a bundle of sadness who's unable to standup for himself when taunted by former classmates about his weight. It is when observing how the men in Pansy's life revert into their inner shell that the cracks in the matriarch's own fractured cocoon becomes magnified.
For all of Pansy's bluster, including her tendency to retell events in a way that make her appear as the victim rather than the aggressor, it's clear that she is a woman living in fear. Haunted by trauma and the expectations of her dead mother, Pansy's fear and hate has left her trapped on a hamster wheel of suffering. Too afraid to take the steps needed to change her current predicament, while knowing deep down that she is not well, she continues the vicious cycle that has led to depression and a constant state of anger.
In Mike Leigh delicate hands, Hard Truths evolves into a fascinating study of the infectious ways fear and suffering can paralyze one in an unhealthy place. Pansy may defiantly tell her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) that "you can't drag the dead with you forever," but, in many ways, that's exactly what she's doing. Unable to free herself of the burden of childhood expectations, she now carries the weight of a resentment she can't shake.
Hard Truths forces us to sit in this uncomfortableness and mull over those like Pansy in own lives. Leigh understands that the world is filled with Pansys — individuals who are miserable and make our lives difficult, but we can't help but love nonetheless. His film doesn't offer any easy answers or quick solutions, which makes the plight of Pansy and her family that more heart-wrenching.
While Leigh nails the sense of unease that come with dealing with difficult individuals like Pansy, the film stumbles a bit when the director attempts to comment on the strife Black women face in general. Providing a few scenes in which Pansy's nieces, Aleisha (Sophia Brown) and Kayla (Ani Nelson), are belittled at their places of work, Leigh shows that Black women are often forced to keep up a confident demeanour when hurting on the inside.
These scenes feel at odds with Pansy's own predicament and motivations. Never delving into the nieces beyond the surface, though they seem to be filled with love and joy in other aspects of their lives, their plight feels like an afterthought that swiftly gets sucked into the protagonist's overwhelming vortex.
Pansy may be a forceful tornado, but it is Jean-Baptiste's performance that makes the destruction resonate with audience. She transforms the character into something far deeper than the sharp verbal jabs she throws. Always ensuring that Pansy's inner turmoil remains at the forefront, Jean-Baptiste work in the film is further elevated by the wonderful supporting cast.
Anchored by a sensational performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths is an emotionally rich film that reminds viewers there's no quick fix for the human condition.