Hard Truths

Yesterday I took a break from Sundance for a double feature at the Broadway.  I have been looking forward to both movies for a long time and I didn't want to take a chance on them leaving before I could see them (and I wasn't particularly excited about any of the films screening at Sundance yesterday).  I began with Hard Truths and I found this poignant character study to be very thought-provoking.  Pansy Deacon (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) suffers from extreme anxiety and she is annoyed by just about everything.  She gives vent to her to all of her frustrations with everyone she interacts with but mostly her husband Curtley (David Webber) and her twenty-two-year-old son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett) who are both so cowed by her they no longer react to her rants.  Her younger sister Chantelle (Michele Austin), a single mother with a loving relationship with her daughters Kayla (Ani Nelson) and Aleisha (Sophia Brown), repeatedly invites her and her family to spend Mother's Day with them.  However, the visit is fraught with tension and, in a heated exchange, Pansy tells them she knows they all hate her.  She is moved to tears when Moses gives her flowers for Mother's Day but, despite the fact that her family loves her, they don't know how to help her be happy.  There were several audible groans at the abrupt ending but, despite the fact that I also wanted some catharsis, I think it is an incredibly accurate look at the reality of mental illness and what it does to the person suffering and to the people who love them.  I was intrigued by the juxtaposition between Pansy and Chantelle (and their houses) because it shows that children in the same family are impacted by trauma, in this case an absent father and an overly critical mother, differently.  Jean-Baptiste gives an incredible performance because, even though Pansy is so antagonistic, she is also highly sympathetic and her points are often valid (Why do baby clothes have pockets?) which creates many moments of unexpected humor.  I was also struck by Webber's nuanced performance because my opinion of Curtley frequently changed.  I was angry with him when he refuses to comfort Pansy as she cries but I also felt so much pity for him when Pansy refuses to help him after an injury.  Is Pansy so unhappy because Curtley doesn't respond to her or is Curtley so closed off because Pansy has pushed him away?  I know I will be thinking about this movie for a long time and I highly recommend it.