Hard Truths

Final review of 2024!

"I don't understand you, but I love you."

Hard Truths is a welcoming return from legendary filmmaker/writer Mike Leigh.

I have no idea why this film was rejected from other festivals like Cannes and Venice because this was great. It is a depressing character piece where certain things in our past are left unresolved, and the unspoken hurt still picks away at us. Mental health issues are not just sadness and quietness but anger as well.

We follow Pansy, whose first-ever scene is her springing to wake after having a terrible dream, and from there, she is in a constant state of rage at pretty much everything. The littlest things can set her off into a rant. Her words/insults range from hilariously creative to having some truth to what she is complaining about. It mostly has to do with how people talk to her, with one example of a scene in a parking lot when another driver starts an altercation after rudely asking if she is leaving her parked space.

How about another scene where she goes to the dentist, and the woman doing the treatment talks to her in a manner that is not meant to be disrespectful and tries to ease the patient with friendliness during the process but can be seen as being treated/talked to like a child. Even Pansy says, "Don't talk to me like a child!"

But this is not a simple case of waking up cranky or having a bad day. It is something more than that. Judging by her family life, with her husband and son, they are all miserable, most noticeably her son and husband, who carry this heavy silence and hardly make eye contact. There is no love or comfort in the house.

On the other hand, Pansy's sister lives the opposite life; she is happier and has a healthy relationship with her children. Even her flat is more vibrant in colour and feels more inviting.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is terrific here, and what could have easily been a one-note performance is, instead, a devastating but exhausting performance of a woman who needs a lot of help. But she is still someone you want to avoid if you are in close contact. Even her angry outburst tires her out.

It is a very human film with beautiful writing and acting. The film shows the sad reality of how our mental health can isolate us from other people, even our own family. There is no concrete answer to why Pansy is like this. There are little crumbs of a backstory, but it is left open-ended. Situations like this are like the ocean: it is much deeper than it looks. The cinematography from Dick Pope (RIP) is subtle and nothing too flashy.

This movie and another film I saw at this festival, A Real Pain, almost feel similar in terms of a complicated family dynamic and the different lives the characters lead, where one is happier than the other.

Overall rating: The ultimate feel-bad movie of 2024.

Well, 2024 is done and dusted. I hope you all had a great year, and if not, I hope 2025 is better for you. I will see you there. Take care, everyone!