Hard Truths (12A)

★★★★ British Oscar-nominated director Mike Leigh is back on form in this gruelling tale. ~ The Times.

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From acclaimed filmmaker Mike Leigh, comes Hard Truths. Starring  Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin.

The Oscar-nominated Salford director returns with another well-observed drama that delicately traces the bonds that bind families together. 

In Hard Truths, Leigh reunites with BAFTA award- winner Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies), who delivers a performance so intimate in its details, it could almost be moments from a home movie.

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. 

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★★★★★ In his stunning new drama, Mike Leigh portrays living, breathing, flawed but good people, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste starring, in what is sure to be one of the best performances of the year. ~ BBC.

★★★★★ Hard Truths is magnificent - the Oscars got it wrong; Jean-Baptiste deserved to be nominated for her leading role as the prickly, difficult Pansy in Leigh's towering study of everyday misery. ~ The i.

★★★★★ A moving return to the domestic miseries of North London. ~ Irish Times.

★★★★ The story of two siblings with very different attitudes to life, it's a potent examination of not only sisterhood but also marriage and mental ill health. ~ Radio Times.

★★★★ A scorchingly funny drama of depression, rage – and love, anchored by Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s incendiary performance, this portrait of a woman broken by grief is biting and bleakly witty. ~ The Telegraph.

★★★★★ One of the most fascinating and rich characters in any film this century. ~ Little White Lies.

★★★★ Awards beckon. ~ Irish Independent.

★★★★ ~ The Independent.

★★★★ ~ Financial Times.

★★★★ ~ The Scotsman.

★★★★ ~ The Guardian.

★★★★ ~ The Times.

★★★★ ~ Time Out.

★★★★ ~ Empire.

★★★★ ~ RTE.