Hard Truths | Nerve CinemaHard Truths | Nerve Cinema

Agoraphobia and angst in a Mike Leigh film

Housewife Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is not happy. She is agoraphobic, a hypochondriac and paranoid about animals, birds, insects, plants, and flowers. She is confrontational with everyone, especially her plumber husband Curtley and her unemployed son Moses, whom she thinks is wasting his life.

Her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) runs a thriving hair salon. A single mum, she enjoys life, and lives harmoniously with her daughters Kayla, who works in cosmetics, and Aleisha, a trainee lawyer. Mike Leigh’s new film returns to his ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with this tragi-comic study of human strengths and weaknesses.

Mike Leigh | United Kingdom, Spain | 2024 | 97 mins | 12