In Mike Leigh’s new film Hard Truths, Marianne Jean-Baptiste basically plays my grandmother.
Sure, Jean-Baptiste stars as Pansy, a wife, mother and homemaker based in London. But watching her go through life as a loud, incorrigible downer of a woman took me back to my days growing up with my “Momo” Florence, a woman who was never not in a foul mood. Much like Pansy, my grandmother always had to be the most miserable person in the room, constantly complaining about being “half-sick” and claiming that her issues were heavier than anyone else’s. “You think you got problems?” she would often tell me whenever I was going through something, instantly indicating that the next five minutes would be all about her.
But at least during those moments I knew my grandmother was trying to console me. Pansy, on the other hand, does not care about what her family members are dealing with. Her husband (David Webber) and son (Tuwaine Barrett) are more like silent observers to her relentless diatribes than loved ones. She has a more empathetic relationship with her single-mom sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), who keeps pressing her bitter ass to visit their mother’s grave on Mother’s Day.
Since English filmmaker Leigh wrote and directed 2008’s wonderful Happy-Go-Lucky, which starred Sally Hawkins as the most positive woman in London, I should’ve known a movie about the most negative woman in London would arrive at some point. Here he reunites with his Secrets & Lies co-stars Austin and Jean-Baptiste, the latter of whom maintains a venomous scowl throughout.
Sometimes Leigh uses Pansy’s bilious attitude for comedic purposes, like when she plows her way through a day of antagonizing strangers. (It’s like Leigh is giving us some Larry David-level cringe comedy.) But as the film rolls on, we see how Pansy’s misanthropic behavior is a sickness — likely brought on by either mental illness or a traumatic childhood — that even she would like to get rid of. In these moments, Jean-Baptiste — who has won multiple critics’ awards for her performance — quietly shows us the pain and agony Pansy goes through just trying to receive love and affection. One scene features her taking flowers from a bouquet and placing them in a vase like she’s dismantling a bomb.
In true Leigh fashion, Truths is another kitchen-sink drama that follows all the members of a dysfunctional clan, some of them silently taking on the sort of day-to-day indignities Pansy thinks she deals with especially. Pansy’s son goes on presumably head-clearing walks, looking for some kind of positive interaction — that is, when he isn’t being harassed by bullies. Even Chantelle’s adult daughters (Sophie Brown and Ani Nelson) must wade through bullshit at their jobs, having to answer to unsatisfied superiors.
Leigh has always had a knack for creating stories in which one mentally troubled person affects the lives of others. (While some people may see this as an unofficial Secrets & Lies sequel, I can’t help but think of it as a sunnier version of his nasty, nocturnal 1993 film Naked.) In Truths, Leigh presents a loathsome (and self-loathing) protagonist who can’t help but stay wrapped in her cynical cocoon, even when a serious moment forces her to actually give a damn about someone else.
I have a feeling some people may find Hard Truths too bitter a pill to swallow. But for those of us who grew up with misery machines like Pansy, this may bring back memories. Whether they’re good or bad is in the eye of the beholder.
