Hard Truths – Film Review
by Brian Merriman

Written and directed by Mike Leigh
Starring: Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Pansy Deacon, Michele Austin as Chantelle, David Webber as Curtley Deacon, Tuwaine Barrett as Moses Deacon, Ani Nelson as Kayla, Sophia Brown as Aleisha and Jonathan Livingstone as Virgil

Mike Leigh has written and directed this story of a very dysfunctional London family. I feel I will be in the minority here about this latest offering from the multi-awarded Leigh and his prestigious back catalogue of films, stories and studies of things that happen in everyday life that often remain unseen, but here goes…

In Hard Truths, we meet Pansy Deacon in an energetically intense performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Her toxicity, anger and poison are relentless throughout. Clearly, the film is about what turns someone into such an angry aggressive character, but there is little or nothing to redeem her and too few reference points to allow us to see where and how the nasty downward spiral began.

There are hints that the loss of her late Mother, Pearl, with whom she had an unresolved relationship, is a primary reason for the bile she spews out. But her sister Michele Austin – an empathetic Chantelle whom Pansy helped raise, has a different view of her sister and a kinder disposition. Her relationship with her own daughters is a rare joyful subplot.

Leigh crowds the opening sequences with a plethora of female character studies, mainly customers in Chantelle’s salon, who contribute little or nothing to the ensuing plot. ‘Chantelle’ loves her sister and seems to be the one person who lets the toxicity roll off her, as she knew her before depression took its angry toll. We don’t get to see that ‘Pansy’. We needed to.

How has the anger still grown, over the long five years since the death of her Mother? What if any fuel did her husband, a deep study by David Webber as ‘Curtley’ and their 22-year-old son, a silent Tuwaine Barrett as ‘Moses’ remain unable to counteract that negativity?  Chantelle offers her sister shelter, and we briefly get an admission of being tired and feeling unloved. There is little love left in Pansy for anyone, not even herself.

It is within the reasonably affluent family home that we see the devastation of Pansy’s decline. She rants about a neighbour’s ‘fat baby’ to her obese son. She ridicules and demeans the incredibly patient men in her life until they are silent and neutered. It is not pleasant behaviour to witness, no matter how well played. There is no respite for them or us for an hour and a half.

The plot is slow, the abuse nasty and the filming of the silenced reactions, uncomfortable. Leigh certainly gives his audience (like the family) no way out. The absence of any redeeming quality in Pansy and any behaviour that might allow us to see beyond the shouting and abuse is tough going.

The abuse of her husband and son is shocking and prompts the question, is this a story written by a man, about understanding a woman in crisis, or is it written by a man to illustrate to deep trauma suffered by men in their own homes? Perhaps it is both?

Either way, these hard truths did not guide us to understanding any possible future or recovery for this abused family but assured us of a lasting, hugely damaged legacy.

Unrestrained personalised toxicity on social media is facilitated and normalised today. It is the uncontrolled outbursts by those who insist that only their view of the world allows them to say and do what they like, as they do untold damage to innocent others. ‘Pansy’ would be its cheerleader had she confined her viciousness to online rants, but she doesn’t consider or use that channel of hate. It’s all ugly and face-to-face. No one is safe from her cruel verbal assaults, and she has no regrets for anyone but herself.

My own ‘hard truth’ was that I would not want to put myself in the position of being such a silent observer of self-centred toxic abuse for another hour and a half, again. There are too many key elements of the back story left unexplained to allow anyone to gain a perspective, that just might allow us to see beyond the anger, toxicity and abuse and into the core being. In ‘Hard Truths’ there is little truth acknowledged by Pansy.  Were we introduced into this household so that we could understand what brought us there and how we might escape unscathed? No one is unscathed when faced with Leigh’s ‘Hard Truths’.