--- title: "Hard Truths: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hard-truths/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/hard-truths" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 21 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hard Truths (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 21 reviews: 20 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. The reviews for Hard Truths agree on where the film lives: in Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s performance as Pansy, a woman whose hostility to everyone around her is, most critics decide, a cover for grief and fear. Almost every notice singles her out, and several call it the role of her career. Praise for Mike Leigh clusters around his refusal to condescend to a difficult character and his return to the small-scale, contemporary domestic drama of his earlier work; the swing between comedy and devastation, sometimes within a single scene, is noted approvingly and often. Reservations are few and mild. Variety finds the story slender beneath the performance, The Hollywood Reporter places it in the middle of Leigh’s output rather than at the top, and one or two critics mention an ending that leaves questions open. The sole outright dissent comes from Deadline, which finds the film bleak and short on hope while still admiring the lead. The spread is narrow. ## Little White Lies — Mark Asch Rating 4/5/5. 29 January 2025. The critic calls the film a searing portrait of a woman on the brink that does incredible things in small, measured strokes. Pansy is highlighted as one of the most fascinating and rich characters in any film this century. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/hard-truths) ## RogerEbert.com — Glenn Kenny Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 5 December 2024. Leigh's tragi-comedy is one of the very few great films of 2024, a character study of near-febrile vitality. The film singles out Marianne Jean-Baptiste's dazzling, compassionate performance as the pain-driven Pansy for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hard-truths-film-review-2024) ## The i Paper — Christina Newland Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2025. The critic deems the film magnificent and praises its unapologetic focus on a prickly, difficult human being with empathy and skill. Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s towering, real performance is singled out as formidable and heartbreaking. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/hard-truths-is-magnificent-oscars-got-it-wrong-review-3504420) ## Slant Magazine — Cole Kronman Rating 3.5/4. 5 October 2024. The critic offers a compassionate portrait of a woman on the brink, praising Marianne Jean-Baptiste for channeling an anger that feels excruciatingly real and Leigh's willingness to meet characters at eye level without condescension. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/hard-truths-review-marianne-jean-baptiste-mike-leigh/) ## Evening Standard — Martin Robinson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2025. The review calls the film harrowing and hilarious, centred on a staggering lead performance by Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a ferocious and funny curmudgeon. Leigh is celebrated for returning to core territory of portraying ordinary lives with a huge sympathetic heart. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/hard-truths-review-marianne-jeanbaptiste-b1207647.html) ## Film Comment — José Teodoro Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 September 2024. Festival review. The film stands as Mike Leigh’s finest work since Happy-Go-Lucky, a character study of an agitated, phobia-addled woman whose rants mix comedy and pathos rooted in unarticulated grief. The critic singles out the whiplash shifts from comedy to devastation and the director’s attention to silences and changing minds in dialogue scenes. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/love-and-death-tiff-2024/) ## The New Yorker — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 January 2025. Leigh's blisteringly funny and crushingly sad new movie features Jean-Baptiste giving the performance of the year as the profoundly unhappy Pansy. The film is singled out for its entertaining viciousness and bruised exhilaration alongside its emotional egalitarianism. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/01/13/hard-truths-movie-review) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 January 2025. The critic deems it marvelous and a welcome return for Leigh, praising Marianne Jean-Baptiste's transcendent performance as a woman whose pathological hostility masks deep fear and anxiety, while noting the film's hilarious yet unnerving tone. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-is-back.html) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Rating B+. 6 September 2024. Festival review. The critic highlights Marianne Jean-Baptiste's colossal performance as a woman at war with the world in this spiky, small drama that serves as the polar opposite of Happy-Go-Lucky. It praises the film's sharp take on family dynamics and Leigh's direction. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-marianne-jean-baptiste-1235044173/) ## The AV Club — Jason Gorber Rating B+. 4 December 2024. The critic calls it a classic Mike Leigh drama without compromise, praising Marianne Jean-Baptiste's astonishing, nuanced turn as a force of acerbic misery and the film's rewarding exploration of family, grief, and acceptance. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/hard-truths-review) ## Empire — Laura Venning Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2025. The review describes the film as gruelling but ultimately rewarding, with Leigh at his most confrontational and humane. Jean-Baptiste’s astonishing, career-redefining performance as a woman in crisis is highlighted as the film’s powerful core. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hard-truths/) ## Los Angeles Times — Amy Nicholson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2025. Leigh's misanthropic drama is a puckeringly sour delight that turns time with the most insufferable woman into time well spent. Jean-Baptiste's flamethrower performance as the rage-filled Pansy is singled out as the film's burning core. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-01-09/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-marianne-jean-baptiste-michele-austin) ## Radio Times Rating 4/5. 28 January 2025. The critic calls it a poignant character study that excels at revealing deep-rooted issues through an unlikeable yet empathetic lead. Jean-Baptiste’s performance is highlighted as greatly empathetic and full of guile. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/hard-truths-review/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2025. The critic finds the film makes you laugh and cry, highlighting a titanic performance from Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a vessel of formless rage. Leigh is praised for rendering small beauties out of the ordinary and revealing the soul inside a difficult character. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-b2687533.html) ## Time Out Rating 4/5. 6 December 2024. The critic describes the film as a pungent-but-poignant character study of a woman stuck in anger and resentment. Jean-Baptiste’s remarkable performance is singled out for creating a richly drawn character with deep empathy. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hard-truths-review-2024) ## Screen Daily 20 September 2024. Festival review. The critic finds the film an emotionally trenchant piece that echoes Leigh’s earlier work while offering a superb central performance. Jean-Baptiste’s portrayal of a rebarbative yet intriguing woman is singled out for making her grimly comic and compelling. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/hard-truths-san-sebastian-review/5197403.article) ## Sight and Sound 30 January 2025. The critic praises Mike Leigh’s empathetic tragicomedy for its focus on a hostile yet fragile woman and celebrates the director’s irreplaceable place in British cinema. Jean-Baptiste’s fearless lead performance and the film’s blend of comedy and pain are singled out as highlights. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/hard-truths-mike-leighs-graceful-tragicomedy-shows-how-irreplaceable-he-british-cinema) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 7 September 2024. Festival review. Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives an exceptional performance as a woman in the terrifying endgame of depression. The film is a deeply sober and compassionate drama about a black British family, with flashes of fun, returning Leigh to his classic contemporary style. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/sep/07/hard-truths-review-a-mike-leigh-classic-of-day-to-day-disillusionment-and-courage) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jon Frosch 6 September 2024. Festival review. The critic finds it a solid, mid-tier Mike Leigh film boosted by a bravura performance from Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a perpetually hostile woman whose anger alienates her family. It praises the vivid portrait of psychic pain, collateral damage, and flashes of humor and tenderness. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hard-truths-review-marianne-jean-baptiste-mike-leigh-1235993190/) ## The Telegraph 30 January 2025. Festival review. Anchored by Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s incendiary performance, this is a scorching family drama of depression, rage and love that is biting and bleakly witty. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/hard-truths-london-film-festival-mike-leigh-review/) ## The Times — Ed Potton Rating ★★★★☆. 30 January 2025. Mike Leigh is back on form in this gruelling tale with a bilious protagonist brought to life by Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s ferocious performance. It reminds viewers of the importance of asking why someone may be behaving badly. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-movie-kh8c8t6gh) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Rating Critic's Pick. 6 September 2024. Festival review. Leigh builds a prickly but fair micro-portrait around Jean-Baptiste, giving her the role of her career even if the story is slender. The film is singled out for its profound poetry in every scene and the way observation of Pansy may shift how we see the world. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/hard-truths-review-marianne-jean-baptiste-1236132683/) ## NME — Nick Levine Rating 5/5. 28 January 2025. The film is a quietly heartbreaking yet funny portrait that reveals much about the human condition through its depiction of everyday life. The critic singles out Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s tremendous, award-worthy performance as the angry yet depressed Pansy for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-marianne-jean-baptiste-3832292) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2024. The critic praises Mike Leigh's intimate family drama for its sharp character work and Marianne Jean-Baptiste's standout performance as the rage-filled Pansy, calling it one of the year's best. The film is seen as a strong return to Leigh's signature style of building complex worlds through actors, even as it leaves some emotional truths open-ended. [Read the review](https://collider.com/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh/) ## The Wrap — Steve Pond Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2024. Festival review. The film is an extraordinarily moving and wrenching gem that creates deep empathy for its difficult central character. Leigh's subtle, intimate approach and the performances, especially Jean-Baptiste's, are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh/) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2024. Festival review. The critic finds the film starts funny with Pansy's rants but reveals her mental health struggles, singling out Jean-Baptiste's tragicomic tour-de-force performance as the standout element that draws viewers into her difficult life. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/hard-truths-2024-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## The Skinny — Philip Concannon Rating 4/5. 27 January 2025. The terse, blunt film offers a frustrating yet heartbreaking portrait of chronic unhappiness and isolation without easy catharsis or diagnosis. The critic singles out Jean-Baptiste’s astonishingly vivid performance for revealing the pain behind the belligerence. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/hard-truths) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2024. Festival review. The film is a bleak and depressing look at a thoroughly unlikable character with little hope or redemption. Jean-Baptiste's magnificent performance is singled out for praise amid the overall sadness. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/09/hard-truths-review-marianne-jean-baptiste-mike-leigh-toronto-film-festival-1236079783/) ## Paste — Nadira Begum Rating 8.9. 1 November 2024. The review calls Hard Truths Mike Leigh's best film in more than a decade, highlighting its empathetic portrait of post-COVID isolation and mental health struggles through a strong Black British cast. Jean-Baptiste's complex, heartbreaking lead performance anchors the film's sincere slice-of-life approach. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/mike-leigh/hard-truths-review-mike-leigh-best-film-marianne-jean-baptiste-michele-austin) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-/B+. 8 September 2024. Festival review. The critic praises Marianne Jean-Baptiste's powerhouse performance as the angry, unhappy Pansy, highlighting how it makes the character unforgettable and haunting. They note the film's ambiguous ending leaves questions unanswered but emphasizes the emotional impact. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/hard-truths-review-marianne-jean-baptiste-unleashes-a-fury-in-mike-leighs-family-drama-tiff-20240908/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/hard-truths.md