Review: Hard Truths – One against all

Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, David Webber, Michele Austin
Directed by Mike Leigh

8.5/10

Depression and misanthropy have never been so funny. British filmmaker Mike Leigh has been mastering the domestic dramas in his home country for decades now and continues to do so with Hard Truths, once again putting audiences through a variety of emotions as he explores one of his saddest characters yet (and that’s saying something).

Right from the get-go, Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is revealed to be a hysterically miserable woman. She slags off her quiet husband Curtley (David Webber) and their even quieter, almost mute son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) for all manner of small grievances they give her. She also goes on rants to her hairdresser sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), whinging about the state of things and people these days in Britain.

Even when she’s out and about, doing groceries or seeing doctors, she’s giving everyone in earshot a telling-off, simply for existing in the wrong way according to her. She appears to be a tired woman, riddled by chronic sicknesses and having to take daytime sleeps, yet she has an abundance of energy when it comes to her explosive ravings against the world.

It’s wildly fun to watch such a character go off on the world, whether to her poor reluctant listeners or towards those who are apparently giving her grief. She may be one of the most antagonistic characters ever seen in a film, and even though most of her rants are unfairly flung out, there’s plenty of catharsis to be had with her deeply felt angry misanthropy.

There’s much fun to be had with the film’s first half—the more you identify with her, the more laughs it’ll get out of you. Yet there’s a turning point with this character and the mood of the film. Amidst the theatrics of Pansy’s rantings and ravings, there appears to be a deep sadness and depression within her. She truly seems unhappy and unlikely to ever be fixed.

In the film’s second half (mostly taking place during Mother’s Day, making this an even more gruelling watch), Pansy becomes just about paralysed by her inability to feel at home in the world. She may be angry at all those around her, but they all appear to be happier than her.

Hard Truths is a fantastic character study, one that is immensely enjoyable to watch if you can get on the film’s nasty wavelength that curses out at the world (even unfairly), but it still concludes on a very sad and unfortunately very real note of how incompatible some people can be. Maybe this conclusion doesn’t quite land, coming across as thin when there’s been so much build-up leading up to it. But Hard Truths still stands as a stirring film that can be surprisingly moving, surprisingly upsetting, and surprisingly hilarious.

Hard Truths plays as part of the Russell Hobbs British Film Festival, which runs from Wednesday, November 6 to Sunday, December 8. For more info and to buy tickets, head to britishfilmfestival.com.au

DAVID MORGAN-BROWN