Hard Truths PictureEast 2025

Ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.

Hard Truths, Mike Leigh

Amidst the strings of composer Gary Yershon’s gentle melody lies Hard Truths, Mike Leigh’s first film since Peterloo (2018). Blending comedy and dense tragedy Leigh points the audience in the direction of the Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a depressed nay-sayer who’ll leave you wondering why babies have pockets. Jean-Baptiste is incomparable as she shrinks into her molten frown throughout the runtime, chewing all the scenery around her. In its acknowledgment of the uncommunicated wounds sisters live with, wherein shared gestures are all the honesty that is left, Hard Truths is amongst the year’s finest.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Release Date: January 31st 2025
Directed by Mike Leigh
Written by Mike Leigh
Produced by Georgina Lowe
Cast Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown, Jonathan Livingstone Cinematographer Dick Pope
Composer Gary Yershon Distributor: StudioCanal
Runtime: 97 minutes