In Hard Truths, we are forced to sympathize with an absolute complete bitch—henceforth to be known as ACB—who just can’t get out of her own damn way.
Hard Truths is an actor’s showcase, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste not only chewing up the scenery and characters around her but spitting it back out into a corner of a dark corner to create a Hate Den, a vile lair of spite and cruelty. Of course, her character Pansy is brimming with trauma-induced anxiety, fear, and desperation, and after years of refusing to acknowledge her grief she has transformed into the ultimate ACB (sometimes known as a UACB, but that acronym is less commonly understood).
Jean-Baptiste immerses herself into the role so completely it’s hard to imagine there is a real, hopefully semi-pleasant woman behind the performance. It’s the head-turning kind of performance that, well, deservedly turns heads.
As for the movie itself, Hard Truths is a solid drama that also features a menagerie of supporting characters who are all played quite well by the cast—they just get lost amidst the ACB performance by Jean-Baptiste. Director Mike Leigh revels in the small nuances of characters pleasant or not, and Hard Truths is another worthwhile venture for the filmmaker. But even those elements, and the story itself, get consumed by its central ACB character.
All in all, Hard Truths is a worthwhile watch and a satisfyingly entertaining experience, especially when Pansy is going to town on her unsuspecting victims. However, the movie will be remembered more for Marianne Jean-Baptiste than anything else, for better or worse. It is the very definition of an actor’s showcase.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.