Marianne Jean-Baptiste tests our limits of empathy in ‘Hard Truths’

Of all the movie protagonists you might have seen this year, none is quite like Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s Pansy in Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths.” Pansy, a middle-aged woman in contemporary London, is foul-tempered from beginning to end. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Mike Leigh during the Toronto International Film Festival Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Mike Leigh during the Toronto International Film Festival Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print “You sit down with Marianne a hundred years later from ‘Secrets and Lies,’ in which she played a very intelligent young woman, and Marianne has now moved on in life,” Leigh says. Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print Jean-Baptiste was a recent drama school graduate, classically trained and oriented toward theater, when she co-starred in 1996’s “Secrets & Lies.” It was her breakthrough. She attacks before anyone can attack her, and she thinks everyone is attacking her.” Marianne Jean-Baptiste Marianne Jean-Baptiste Share Share Copy Link copied Email Facebook X Reddit LinkedIn Pinterest Flipboard Print But Pansy’s specific diagnosis isn’t the point of “Hard Truths.” It’s much more about how her family and the outside world react to her.