Hard Truths (12A)

Hard Truths is a comedy-drama film starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, and David Webber. Set in London, its plot follows the plight of a depressed and nay-saying woman and the relationship with her jovial sister Chantelle

Reuniting with Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies star Jean-Baptiste, the latest from seven-time Oscar-nominated auteur Mike Leigh is bracingly tough, darkly funny, and pierced with insight. Shifting between various members of an extended Black family in London

Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. She brings both dynamism and understanding to the prickliest of characters, nominated for a BAFTA and recipient of an award for 'Best Lead Performance' at the British Independent Film Awards in what is one of the best performances of the year.

This expansive film from master dramatist Leigh was the last film of his to be shot by his long time cinematographer Dick Pope who passed away shortly after it played at London Film Festival back in October. It 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.