Director Mike Leigh and actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who collaborated nearly three decades ago on the Oscar-nominated film “Secrets & Lies,” reunite for the movie “Hard Truths.” Their partnership continued in the subsequent year when Jean-Baptiste’s music was featured in Leigh’s film “Career Girls.” Much like “Secrets & Lies,” the new film “Hard Truths” focuses on Jean-Baptiste’s character, an adopted Black woman who uncovers her biological mother’s white heritage. Garnering critical acclaim, “Secrets & Lies” received five Oscar nominations.
“Hard Truths” is already generating buzz in the early award season, having earned recognition from the National Board of Review and various critics organizations in New York, San Diego, Toronto, Chicago, and Los Angeles. As the film hits theaters on Jan. 10, viewers will likely have lingering questions about the fate of characters like Pansy and Curtley, prompting discussions about the film’s enigmatic conclusion.
Delving deeper into the storyline, “Hard Truths” centers on Pansy, the troubled matriarch of a London family, who grapples with deep-seated unhappiness and unresolved grief. Jean-Baptiste describes Pansy as a character burdened by anxiety and fear, projecting her discontent onto her loved ones. The film explores Pansy’s complex relationships and inner struggles as she navigates her tumultuous emotions and past traumas.
A pivotal moment in the narrative occurs when Pansy confronts her sister, Chantelle, about their differing memories of their mother’s death, shedding light on Pansy’s profound sense of alienation and self-doubt. The contrast between Pansy’s home environment, reflective of her mental turmoil, and Chantelle’s vibrant living space underscores the characters’ emotional landscapes.
Director Mike Leigh emphasizes the significance of locations in conveying the characters’ inner states, illustrating Pansy’s fears and anxieties through the setting of her house. The film culminates in a poignant exploration of Pansy’s internal struggles and her quest for understanding and redemption, leaving audiences pondering the complexities of human relationships and the enduring search for solace amidst adversity.
“Don’t expect some big twist or denouement at the end of the film. It seems to just … end. But “Hard Truths” isn’t a movie that’s going to give easy answers or wrap things in a bow. The last twenty minutes or so of “Hard Truths” stops being about Pansy taking everything out on the world, and becomes a bit more of the world reacting to her. Following a series of increasingly tense moments — a meltdown at her Mother’s Day gathering, throwing her husband’s clothes out of their bedroom, calling him “disgusting” — Curtley is injured while at work.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers a stunning portrayal of Pansy. His co-worker brings him home and tells Pansy what’s going on, but she doesn’t appear to want to leave the bedroom after being woken up — instead she quietly sits in a chair by the bed. The final scenes are close-ups of Curtley, a single tear running down his face as he waits for his wife to come down and comfort him; and Pansy, also in a close-up, her expression almost unreadable. She’s not happy or sad. She lets out a small breath. And then the film ends.
So what does the ending of ‘Hard Truths’ mean? Leigh is not going to do your homework for you. He’s been open about working with a very loose script, and has said his actors do a certain amount of improvisation.
“For me, every film is a learning curve. And the great thing about being able to work, in this particular case, with actors with this particular background, is they’re able to come up with what this character would say,” Leigh said during a tastemakers screening attended by TODAY.com. “I’m there to learn from and to take from (them). And if you like to put it more crudely, to exploit their experience, their knowledge, and understanding.”
Jean-Baptiste also shared her thoughts on the significance of the ending, telling TODAY.com that they “leave it to the audience” to figure out.
“It’s intentional on Mike Leigh’s part (to keep things ambiguous). As far as I was concerned, I didn’t know it was the ending when we were doing that scene because you don’t know what the film’s about or what’s happening. You don’t know whether he’s going to film stuff after that,” she says.
Chantelle offers Pansy a way out of her misery.
In fact, the first time she saw the ending was when she saw the completed film. As Jean-Baptiste explains, until the end of the film, you’ve been watching a woman who “is unable to help themselves.” So when she has an injured husband downstairs, “How is she going to help anyone else? And that’s as much as I can give you. The rest is for the audience to take in, to argue about
