Hard Truths

Dir. Mike Leigh. 2024, 97 mins. U.K. DCP. With Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett. The magnificent Marianne Jean-Baptiste, reunited with the towering British director Mike Leigh for the first time since her Oscar-nominated performance in Secrets and Lies, gives a scalding performance in Hard Truths that won’t soon be forgotten. Playing a London woman named Pansy, whose life has been overcome by crippling anger, fear, and suspicion, Jean-Baptiste is uncommonly fierce and ruthless. Michele Austin brilliantly counteracts her as the endlessly patient sister who stands by her, even as Pansy’s rage threatens to overwhelm her long-suffering husband and son. A profoundly felt film for a moment in which the default emotion seems to be constant outrage, Hard Truths is a family drama unlike any other, sharply, ruthlessly shaped by Leigh with his customary mix of pitiless fatalism and gorgeous empathy. 

Tickets: $17.50 / $12 senior and students / $10 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission.