Hard Truths, the near-perfect British drama starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is streaming in the UK now.
The film, written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mike Leigh, sees Jean-Baptiste portray Pansy Deacon, an embittered woman who regularly laments at the state of the modern world.
In one-sided relationships with her husband Curtley (David Webber) and son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), Pansy gradually comes closer with easy-going sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) as the layers of her past are peeled away.
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Starring Ani Nelson and Sophia Brown as Pansy’s nieces, the drama was released in UK cinemas back in January, and it is now finally available for streaming in the country courtesy of Netflix.
Though it only grossed $2.3 million at the box office, Hard Truths was acclaimed by critics, with its approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes currently standing at a near-perfect 95% from 184 reviews.
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In our deep-dive of the film’s themes, we wrote: “Hard Truths explores the reality of mental health when no one has the language to help, refusing to use the prescriptive terminology that is all too common today.”
“A brutally good Marianne Jean-Baptiste powers Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths,” opined Vanity Fair as it called the movie “difficult” and “brilliant”, while Time Out was similarly positive, ranking it 14th in its “best movies of 2025 (so far)” list.
“A gruelling but ultimately rewarding experience, this is Leigh at his most confrontational, devastating and humane, aided by the unadulterated power of Jean-Baptiste’s career-redefining performance,” wrote Empire Magazine.
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Variety was also positive in their appraisal, writing: “Leigh’s films can feel shaggy and unstructured on first viewing, and Hard Truths is no different. But there’s profound poetry in every scene.”
While Leigh’s domestic drama is now available on Netflix, an altogether different film began to trend on the streamer earlier this week, with slasher horror Thanksgiving reaching #4 on the film chart on Tuesday (2 September).
Hard Truths is streaming now on Netflix.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. Â His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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