Film Review - Hard Truths

Marianne Jean-Baptiste is outstanding, but as usual with Mike Leigh films, this is often too painful for comfort

Credit: StudioCanal

Generally, I admire rather than like Mike Leigh’s slice-of-life dramas. I fully appreciate how well crafted they are in terms of Leigh’s famous improvisational style and the generally excellent nature of the performances. But they are often tough to watch because they can be unflinchingly real. Sometimes too real for comfort (1990’s N…