Hard Truth NYFF Review – Finding Honesty Through Anger

I was first introduced to director Mike Leigh’s work in 2008’s Happy-Go-Lucky, which focused on Pauline “Poppy” Cross, a cheerful and optimistic primary school teacher, and her relationships with those around her. The film opens with Poppy trying to engage a shop employee in conversation in the morning after partying all night. He ignores her, yet his cold reaction does not bother her. She maintains her positive mood even when she discovers her bicycle has been stolen. Her main concern is not getting a new one or finding the bicycle, but that she did not get a chance to say goodbye to it. 

In Hard Truths, we’re introduced to Pansy, a painfully miserable depressed woman who is determined to make everyone’s day as dark as she feels. The film opens with her berating those around her. The line at the grocery store is too long; her family doesn’t behave how she likes. She suffocates everyone around her as they go out of their way to avoid her presence or accommodate her to no avail. Every interaction is a fight with claustrophobia, joylessness, and frustration; to her everyone is a target.

Despite Poppy and Pansy’s vastly different personalities, director Mike Leigh’s understanding of women, culture, their emotions, and how the world shapes their outlook is their connective thread. These aren’t extraordinary women, but people who live simple lives as we’re dropped into their daily routines. Pansy is classified as the “angry Black woman” because of how the world misunderstands her. Poppy unnerves everyone because of her glaring positivity. Both are toxic.

Pansy lives in constant fear of people and therefore must be the first to attack. Poppy refuses to recognize the gravity of a situation and must be the first to protect herself. It isn’t until Pansy meets her match in a parking lot that she finally sees herself. Her actions aren’t delusions of thinking everyone is out to get her; it’s a combination of her past and the loss of a life she once looked forward to. She had nowhere to place that pain for years but inward. Poppy, however, is surrounded by darkness and the negativities of others; her choice to remain blissfully happy frustrates other. Both behaving with extreme emotion, these two people are two sides of the same coin.

Mike Leigh’s Hard Truth is a case study of pain, as Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers a fiery, deeply layered performance. Pany’s anger finally takes a toll on her body. It’s easy to dismiss Pansy as one-dimensional, but Jean-Baptiste reaches levels of sadness and fear that result in one of the best performances of her career (so far). Pansy’s life is simple; she lives in a decent home with her husband, Curtley (David Webber), and their son, Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), who’s emotional beatdowns by Pansy cause him to lock himself in his room, separate from the world. While Pansy means the best for her son, she is constantly wondering and screaming at him to have “hopes and dreams.” He does but is emotionally stunted and doesn’t know how because he’s never been exposed to hopefulness.

Meanwhile, grappling with her own stunted life her pain oozes out of her body; She spends all day asleep trying to escape the physical pain she’s in. It is this moment the audience realizes her anger is a symptom of her abandoned mental health, and Pansy doesn’t have the skills to fix it. Despite her behavior, her sister Chantelle tries to pull her out of this feeling, encouraging her to visit family and their mother’s grave on the anniversary of her death. But Pansy’s anger is overwhelming, and what was supposed to be a lighthearted family dinner results in tension and disappointment from the beginning as Pansy refuses to take her coat off. Chantelle is patient with Pansy, but she is completely helpless against Pansy’s wrath. It’s a sad moment as they realize they will never be close.

Pansy is aware she needs help and even clashes with several doctors as she tells them, “I’m not okay.” Yet she refuses to accept that she needs help. These conflicted actions express she doesn’t want to appear weak despite her fragile state. Curtley tries to remain a rock for Pansy, but the daily abuse is slowly wearing him down. He too is suffering in silence with no one to talk to, yet he and Moses must prevail. It’s easy to become frustrated by him, since he mostly doesn’t say or do much, but there’s a sense of sadness that he’s ignoring within.

Hard Truths is not a comfortable watch, but that’s the point. Leigh expertly crafts a world and understanding that sees Pansy in all her pain, without judgment. It’s easy to root for Moses and Curtley, but Leigh allows the audience to relate to Pansy. She reminds us of someone we know, or maybe she’s a reflection of ourselves.