After a six-year absence from the movie screen, acclaimed British director Mike Leigh is back with a 2024 new movie, Hard Truths. In addition to his improvisational style, Leigh is also known for working with a regular troupe of actors, but Hard Truths will see him reunite with a past collaborator for the first time in years: his Secrets and Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
With those credentials, Hard Truths could very well be among the many movies that are position as potential Oscar nominees for the remainder of the year. So when could audiences be seeing it? Who else is in it? And is there a trailer for the movie?
Find out all that and more by reading on below.
Hard Truths release date
According to reports, Bleecker Street plans to release Hard Truths in select movie theaters on December 6 to ensure that it qualifies for end-of-year awards before releasing it nationwide in the US on January 10.
Hard Truths is expected to premiere for UK audiences on January 31, 2025.
Hard Truths cast
In Hard Truths, Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman prone to tirades that make her family and those around her miserable. Jean-Baptiste earned an Oscar nomination for her previous collaboration with Leigh in Secret and Lies. Outside of that viewers will know her from The Book of Clarence, Homecoming, Broadchurch and Without a Trace.
Starring alongside Jean-Baptiste is Michele Austin, playing Pansy's sister. Austin also is a Mike Leigh veteran, having appeared in Another Year, All or Nothing and Secrets and Lies. Some of her more recent credits include Boat Story, Meet the Richardsons and This Is Going to Hurt.
Hard Truths plot
Here is the official synopsis for Hard Truths:
"Legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the contemporary world with a fierce, compassionate and often darkly humorous study of family and the thorny ties that bind us. Reunited with Leigh for the first time since multiple Oscar-nominated Secrets and Lies, the astonishing Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. Meanwhile, her easygoing younger sister, played by Michele Austin, is a single mother with a life as different from Pansy's as their clashing temperaments — brimming with communal warmth from her salon clients and daughters alike. This expansive film from a master dramatist takes us into the intensities of kinship, duty and the most enduring of human mysteries: that even through lifetimes of hurt and hardship, we still find ways to love those we call family."
Hard Truths trailer
Watch the official Hard Truths trailer right here:
Hard Truths reviews
Hard Truths' official Rotten Tomatoes score as of December 3 is "Certified Fresh" at 96%.
Hard Truths awards
Here is a round-up of the major awards that Hard Truths has been nominated for and/or won:
British Independent Film Awards
- Best Lead Performance — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (winner)
- Best Supporting Performance — Michele Austin (nominee)
Critics Choice Awards
- Best Actress — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (nominee)
Gotham Awards
- Outstanding Lead Performance — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (nominee)
- Best International Feature (nominee)
London Critics Circle Film Awards
- British/Irish Film of the Year (nominee)
- Actress of the Year — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (nominee)
- Supporting Actress of the Year — Michele Austin (nominee)
- British/Irish Performer of the Year — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (nominee)
National Board of Review
- Best Original Screenplay — Mike Leigh (winner)
- Top 10 Independent Film
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
- Best Actress — Marianne Jean-Baptiste (winner)
Mike Leigh movies
Since the late '80s Mike Leigh has been producing movies almost every two or three years, which is quite impressive for anyone but especially when you consider that most of his movies are said to be heavily improvised as he and the actors work to find the story. Add in the many accolades that he has amassed over his career (seven Oscar nominations, five BAFTA wins and more), and he has earned the right to be considered among the premier filmmakers of his generation.
Here's a look at his complete resume of feature directorial efforts to date:
- Bleak Moments (1971)
- High Hopes (1988)
- Life Is Sweet (1990)
- Naked (1993)
- Secrets and Lies (1996)
- Career Girls (1997)
- Topsy-Turvy (1999)
- All or Nothing (2002)
- Vera Drake (2004)
- Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
- Another Year (2010)
- Mr. Turner (2014)
- Peterloo (2018)
