Friend of The Riverside, Mike Leigh, returns with this uncompromising, yet heartfelt, portrait of contemporary family life in London.
Sisters Pansy and Chantal are chalk and cheese, but their close bond is the foundation that their extended family is built upon. Lately, life has proven too much for Pansy, her anguish manifests in relentless criticism of the world, leaving her husband Curtley, son Moses and Chantal walking on eggshells. Things come to a head over the course of a Mother’s Day weekend. Rarely have the nuances of familial relations been so accurately captured on screen. Working with regular collaborators Dick Pope (cinematography), Jacqueline Duran (costume design), Gary Yershon (music) and Suzie Davis (production design), Hard Truths ranks with Leigh’s finest films. Michelle Austin, David Webber and Tuwaine Barrett excel as members of the Pansy family. But in reuniting with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies), audiences are treated to a performance so intimate in its details, it could almost be moments from a home movie.
