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Hard Truths

 

Year: 2024 
Running Time:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Scope) 
Certificate: BBFC 12A Cert – Under 12s admitted only with an adult 
Subtitles: This film is not expected to be subtitled, though this cannot be guaranteed. 
Directed by Mike Leigh 
Starring: Marianna Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber  
An image from Hard Truths
Review:

Director Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Naked) returns to contemporary London for the first time since 2010’s Another Year. His previous two films were concerned with Britain as it was, but Hard Truths is truly positioned within Britain as it exists in the here and now: a post-COVID examination of the ways in which we live our lives.

Hard Truths charts a moment in the life of Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a tumultuous woman with a tendency to push away those closest to her. Pansy’s outbursts tend to alienate everyone she encounters, including her exuberant sister Chantelle (Michele Austin). However, Pansy’s caustic sensibility is perhaps a shield put up after a life of repressed trauma. Hard Truths was my favourite film of 2024. A quietly devastating, and ultimately very human, snapshot of a life lived defensively.

Joseph Cox

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Screenings of this film:

2024/2025 Summer Term – (digital)