\”'Hard Truths' features superb performances and an extremely hearty narrative, it's genuinely one of the saddest films I've seen in a long while; these type of real, gritty stories are always more impactful to me than the more manufactured drama (not that that's bad). Marianne Jean-Baptiste is outstanding as Pansy, a character that is on the surface quite unlikeable but due to her performance as well as smart writing it is actually easy to still care for the character; it's clear why she is the way she is. Michele Austin is also terrific, I couldn't put my finger on where I remembered her from - TV's 'This Is Going to Hurt'. David Webber and Tuwaine Barrett are effective in their roles too, arguably not difficult characters to play but I did feel for them both. Ani Nelson, Sophia Brown and even Jonathan Livingstone manage to stand out too, albeit comparatively minorly versus Jean-Baptiste and Austin. As saddening as this film can be, there is also a fair bit of comedy thrown in there - most, if not all, of which is funny. That scene with Jean-Baptiste and Gary Beadle sticks out, even if Beadle's character is rather over the top. The blend of humour and serious is perfect. For the third week running (weirdly, having not ever happened before), I got to see two films at the cinema back-to-back. This week, it was this and Drew Hancock's 'Companion'. Safe to say, two very different movies! Highly enjoyed them both though.”

r96sk

\”Marianne Jean-Baptiste turns in a splendid performance here as the troubled "Pansy". She's married to "Curtley" (David Webber) and mother to "Moses" (Tiwaine Barrett) but suffice to say she's not an happy woman. Her glass is most definitely half empty as she delivers monologue after monologue of depressing observations about the decline of society as she picks a fight with just about everyone and anyone she can - including her family. That family also includes her more upbeat hairdresser sister "Chantelle" (Michele Austin) and it's through that familial link that we start to discover just what might be driving this obsessively destructive behaviour. It's an observation of a few day in their lives, with limited information available to us before an even less well defined conclusion, but it does provoke thoughts on the importance of family and the perniciousness of grief and mental illness on not just those who suffer themselves, but on those who suffer by association. To that end, there's also quite a touching effort from Barrett as a son who is reserved and may well have learning difficulties of his own as he walks the streets, headphones glued to his head, cutting a rather lonely figure. The dialogue is intense, either delivering the wittily angry rants of "Pansy" or the more convivial ones of her sibling and her young daughters more intent on living the joys of life. It doesn't hang around and is, at times, both an entertaining and difficult watch as it showcases an actor who can invoke a gamut of emotions seemingly effortlessly. I could have done with just a little more context as we are left a bit rudderless at times, but it's still a formidable effort from MJ-B that's well worth an hour and half.”

CinemaSerf

\”I love how angry this lady is. She's so smart. Every day she'd cut me to pieces; asking me why my chihuahua is wearing clothes. Great emotion. Tension. How is that house so fucking organized? Box it up. She's better than Culkin. A much more real pain. A much tighter run time. It is the best sad film.”

Chandler Danier