Director: Mike Leigh
Writer: Mike Leigh
Stars: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Bryony Miller, Sophia Brown
Synopsis: Ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.
While watching Mike Leigh’s latest film, social media came to mind. A common trend often seen nowadays among viral videos is recording strangers causing a scene in public. It’s nearly the same format every single time. There’s a crowded setting where the recording starts a few seconds into the outburst. The location is interchangeable: a restaurant, a department store, a public gathering. And often, the reaction of the viewer or those around the person causing a scene is identical. Those in the video and those watching cast judgment on a complete stranger. We wonder who raised them to behave in such a way. We speculate as to the circumstances that caused the outburst in the first place. It’s shared amongst our circle or our social media feed, and on goes the day. Now, I am not saying shouting at employees or strangers is remotely justifiable. Actions can be reprehensible whether we intend to let our emotions get the better of us or not. But Hard Truths, which is celebrating its U.S. Premiere as part of the Main Slate of the 62nd New York Film Festival, sets out to examine the type of person who may behave in such a way. And of course, it’s not as cut-and-dry as an out-of-context video on social media would like us to believe.
Once again, it feels important to reiterate that under no circumstances should anybody ever feel justified in verbally accosting a stranger because of being unable to keep their emotions in check. It’s unfair and downright cruel. We all have bad days, and it’s up to the individual to manage those emotions in healthy ways that don’t negatively affect the people around them. In writing that understanding, there are legitimate reasons for some mental and emotional breakdowns. Just because lashing out at somebody is not justified doesn’t mean they can’t be understandable. Hard Truths takes this challenging push-and-pull of the truth about reality, and forms an entire character piece around it. Leigh, in all his curiosity and empathy for the human experience, challenges his audience through Pansy (a fantastic Marianne Jean-Baptiste). Her on-screen introduction is the cinematic equivalent of a tornado. Think the sheer energy of Twisters, but balled up into a human who is completely pent-up with stress, panic, anger, and hypochondria. She’s taking an afternoon nap as serene as can be, before practically rocketing out of bed and racing to the window with fright at the sound of… pigeons. Instantly, Leigh’s quaint imagery of a neighborhood street during the opening crawl of the film is jolted away. All we’re left with is Pansy. And Jean-Baptiste delivers a powerhouse performance designed to intentionally alienate audiences from the outset.
The challenge any filmmaker faces is getting audiences on the side of their protagonist over the course of a runtime. In Hard Truths, Leigh seems as if he’s crafted himself quite the challenge. For the entire first half of the film, Jean-Baptiste practically bowls through anybody and everybody in her path. Barely letting anybody else get a word in, it’s a statement-making performance full of brash venom being tossed at whoever is in her vicinity. Nobody is safe, from dentists and nurses to grocery store clerks, neighbors, and strangers in parking lots. Pansy’s husband and son seem to have learned better after years of this behavior. At the dinner table where not a moment of peace can be found, their eyes appear to have glazed over as Pansy rattles off all her rage-fueled observations made during the day. With each passing scene, Leigh makes it abundantly clear that her behavior and actions are becoming more frustrating and despicable by the day. The audience must trust that the legendary filmmaker knows what he’s doing, because just as we’re made to feel like we can’t possibly handle such outbursts any more, Leigh pulls out the rug from under us. But prior to this shift, there are countless moments littered throughout Hard Truths that reveal its hidden hand.
As Pansy goes through her daily errands, Leigh will occasionally cut away to the rest of the small cast. Pansy’s sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin), is a hair-dresser raising her two daughters alone. Leigh will transport us to either her salon or home, and the stark difference in tone and look alone should scream where Leigh is hoping to lead his viewer. Gone is the fear-fueled hush and stark, monochromatic look of Pansy’s home. Whenever Chantelle is present among her daughters or customers, there is such colorful joy bursting off the screen. It’s a clear boon to the energy Pansy brings to the table. Whenever Leigh cuts back to Pansy anywhere, the audience. with bated breath, fears her next outburst. It’s not until a certain encounter that Leigh finally breaks open his lead character, and the film as a whole, to reveal his thesis. This extends beyond a person merely lashing out at the world around them. Hard Truths is all about how people come to terms with the circumstances that end up coming to define their life and relationships.
Leigh morphs a humorous film about the sheer lack of interest in social niceties into something devastating and relatable. Hard Truths becomes a study in human empathy. Riddled with emotional pain and frustrations, Pansy goes from being seen as the human embodiment of a hurricane to a woman frightened by her loss of liveliness. She is haunted by the moments that seem to have broken her ability to enjoy the life she has found herself in. To be human is to come to terms with the notion that there are hard truths about life. Things happen, and they can sometimes irrevocably alter us as people. The simple truth Leigh is setting out to make clear is that life is hard. There are moments where we all walk on eggshells as we do it best to navigate our emotions. It’s important to accept that there will be times where we fail. Despite that, we have to do our best. If we push past the pain and raw emotions coursing through our minds, there are wonders throughout the world just waiting for us. One of the final moments of the film involves Pansy’s quiet son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). It’s such a tender moment in a film. where he’s intentionally resigned for essentially the entire runtime. As noted at the top of this piece, Pansy is rarely ever justified in her actions. But it’s easy to forget just how quickly we can all reach a breaking point when refusing to engage with the moments in our lives that have devastated us. Importantly, Leigh reminds us with Hard Truths that it’s never too late to take a deep breath, look at all the potential love we still have left to both give and receive in the world, and go forward into a new day and a new era.
Hard Truths celebrated its U.S. Premiere as part of the Main Slate of the 62nd New York Film Festival.
