Hard Truths (UK)
13th January I 8pm I Runtime: 97 minutes
After period pieces Mr Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018), Mike Leigh returns to contemporary drama in Hard Truths. Widely praised as a powerful, hard-hitting portrait of conflict in an Afro-Caribbean British family, the film blends raw emotion with dark humour.
The story features two middle-aged sisters, Pansy (played brilliantly and fearlessly by Marianne Jean-Baptiste in her first Mike Leigh film since Secret and Lies (1996), screened by RFS in 1997), and Chantelle (Michele Austin). Pansy is a deeply unhappy and relentlessly angry woman who doesn’t have a good word to say about anyone or anything. Her long-suffering husband, Curtley and reclusive, unemployed son, Moses, remain largely monosyllabic in the face of Pansy’s tirades.
By contrast, Chantelle is cheerful, easy-going and warm and enjoys a close and relaxed relationship with her two adult daughters. Despite their very different characters, the sisters are close and some of the scenes where they are together are the film’s most powerful. Gradually we begin to realise that Pansy’s hostility towards the world masks the inexplicable fear and despair that she feels. Leigh’s sensitive, compassionate exploration of ordinary people’s lives and their contradictions makes for an unsettling but, at times, very funny tragicomedy.
Thinking about Hard Truths and Pansy’s character made me wonder whether Leigh’s latest film reflects an increasingly troubled and angry world. Yet, for all that, it has an uplifting side. As Rotten Tomatoes describes the film: “this expansive film from a master dramatist takes us into the intensities of kinship, duty and the most enduring of human mysteries: that even through lifetimes of hurt and hardship, we still find ways to love those we call family”.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Mike Leigh talked about his films being about experiences foreign to his own. “It’s just about people. It’s about all of us in our good and less so good aspects,” he said.
The film has won several awards, including Best Lead Performance for Marianne Jean-Baptiste at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards and Best Actress from the Chicago Film Critics Association. It was one of the Official Selection films in the 2024 London Film Festival and has also received numerous nominations at BAFTA, the Critics ’Choice and the international film festivals of San Sebastián, Toronto, Rotterdam and New York.
Previous Mike Leigh films shown by RFS include Bleak Moments (1971), Naked (1993) Career Girls (1997) and Topsy-Turvy (1999).
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Around 60 non-member tickets are available to purchase for individual screenings in Season 62.
Non-member tickets are £5 (full-time students £3) and can be purchased in advance from The Exchange Box Office by 24/7 online booking, in-person or via telephone on 020 8240 2399 (lines open Mon-Thurs 10am-5pm). To ensure that you secure a ticket and avoid disappointment, we recommend early pre-booking via The Exchange.
About Richmond Film Society
Richmond Film Society was formed in 1963 and has since screened nearly 900 films. Its objective was, and remains, to bring our local community the very best in World Cinema. The seasons run from September to June and attract an aggregate audience of just over 5,000. Season 62 will comprise 20 films of international repute, including features from Europe, Africa, Central America, East Asia, USA and UK.
Films are shown on alternate Tuesdays at 8:00 pm sharp, with no ads or trailers. On screening nights, the bar opens at 7:00 p.m. and drinks can be brought into the auditorium. Film notes are available online for each screening and audience scores and feedback are collated.
For further information on RFS and the programme of films, please visit http://www.richmondfilmsoc.org.uk
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