I have to admit to not being a great lover of the films of Mike Leigh. His style of filming, no script and heavily improvised, never enthralled me the way it does some critics. However after watching Hard Truths I might just have to have another look at his work.

Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) lives with her shy son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) and her so laid back he’s almost horizontal husband Curtley (David Webber). Suffering from depression due to the death of her mother and underlying unresolved issues with her. Filled with rage and fear anyone who crosses Pansy’s is liable to receive a volley of abuse from her.

With only her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) to talk too, her husband and son both don’t help matters as rather than helping her they choose to say nothing in order to avoid her rage, and with mother’s day coming up, Pansy’s hatred of everything and everyone begins to spiral out of control. Amongst her victims are a cashier in a shop, a sales assistant in a furniture shop, a motorist in a car park, anyone is fair game for her.

What makes Leighs film is that Pansy’s struggle with depression will undoubtedly feel relatable to most audience members. We all more than likely have known or know someone like Pansy or perhaps see some of Pansy in ourselves and it’s this connection that draws you into her world of self-loathing and bitterness.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste has been nominated for just about every award going for her role as Pansy, strangely the only major award were she’s not been nominated for is an Oscar. But to single out Marianne Jean-Baptiste does Hard Truths an injustice as every one of the cast are terrific.

Hard Truths is a hard and moving watch but with a cast and director on the top of their games it might be Mike Leigh’s best film of his long career. With no script and heavily improvised performances Leigh allows his actors to have full reign of their characters and it pays off in spades.

Hard Truths isn’t a film that you’ll forget in a hurry and it comes highly recommended.