Hard Truths (2025 | UK, Spain | 97 minutes | Mike Leigh)
As the year comes to a close, we here at The SunBreak realize that there have been so many films we couldn’t catch as they were released into the wild that still deserve a little love. These posts are our attempt to make up for that and get you squared away for awards season.
Set in contemporary London we meet Pansy, a middle-aged Black woman just trying to move forward in an increasingly stressful world. As we follow her accomplishing everyday mundane tasks she seems to be set off by the most innocuous things from being bumped into walking down the street, to a cashier at the grocery rubbing her the wrong way.
Her stress becomes our stress and it’s hard to understand just where all the hostility comes from. Hour to hour, day to day, it just gets worse and even with the calming, loving presence of her sister and other family members, her irritation simply grows. There’s a pool of pain and anxiety boiling within her and you have to wonder whether someone will be able to cool that down or if it will spill over into irrevocable harm to her or her loved ones.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste was stellar in the lead role for this seemingly simple, but emotionally complex narrative. It’s one of those films that has an underlying current of discomfort from beginning to end, but despite that you want to see our disgruntled protagonist to just find some sense of joy. It’s almost as if she’s walking in a murky pond being pulled further and further down with every step as out-stretched hands surround, but she refuses to grab hold.
I was stressed out the entire film, and it was honestly difficult for me to get through in one sitting. That tells you just how intense and effective Jean-Baptiste’s performance was. Her supporting cast, especially Michele Austin as her sister Chantelle, created the solid ground on which she stood in order to create such a resonating character.
We have all been in a place in our lives where things just seem to be deliberately getting in our way, causing us strife or just pissing us off. Pansy’s world-view was a culmination of all those moments roiling and simmering. I can’t imagine living every moment like that; fear of the world and people around you so severe that the only reaction you have is to lash out. Impassioned, intense, and effective, Hard Truths is an absorbing film that gives you pause and perspective.
Hard Truths will be in theaters 1/10/25