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7

I just want Moses to be happy and fly on a plane

28

wow. amazing performances. the interiors. the sofa shop. the supermarket checkout. so heartbreaking. so british. so london. plus a fox!

12

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

2

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

3

Not being hyperbolic at all when I say if you want to see some of the best acting in the history of the medium, you can turn on any Mike Leigh movie

Review by Emily St. James Liked

One of the only movies I have seen that feels like it manages to capture RIGHT NOW, the grasping, desperate need to be seen and understood and heard, disguising itself as a grasping, desperate need to be left alone. The ending made me go, “Oh fuck.”

6

Hmmm. Ok. Jesus Christ. Well. Not to bring up Liar Liar but there’s this thing about Liar Liar that has bugged me since, oh, 1997: the annoying kid wishes that his father can no longer tell lies, and then the father ends up telling everyone exactly what he’s thinking. The wish’s fulfillment manifests as a more extreme version of what the kid wanted: rabid, unfiltered honesty. Every time I watch it I’m like… why doesn’t he just shut up? (The answer, duh, is that the comedy is less about Jim Carrey telling the truth than it is about watching him exist as someone who physically unable from keeping his mouth shut. Silent Jim Carrey isn’t funny! Silent Jim Carrey wouldn’t have…

5

There is a scene in “Hard Truths” involving an acerbic Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) visiting her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) after leaving their mother’s grave that is instructive of film grammar: framing, blocking, and trust in actors—which should be taught in every film class. So much is revealed about these characters, especially the hardened Pansy, who is really looking for someone to finally care about her pain, her troubles, and her guilt. There is very little cutting in this film because Leigh understands how to compose a shot. This is how a tactician works, practicing the basic rules of filmmaking that a new generation has inexplicably forgotten. Jean-Baptiste is truly incredible in her reunion with Mike Leigh. She is a tightly wound ball of hurt that needs only one pull of a string to unravel.

Review by Louis Peitzman ★★★★½

"What's a baby got pockets for? What's it gonna keep in its pocket, a knife? It's ridiculous."

Somehow extremely watchable and also unbearable.

10

Characterised by periods of unyielding stillness, an ongoing battle with unresolved grief, and mental agony regarded as insurmountable by Pansy and those around her. There aren't many films that feel as in tune with actuality as this one, as if you're an observer absorbing the lives of the very real people on the screen, their hardships so tangible and so close to home. Many times I myself have struggled with the capacity to fit in every day by following the same daily conventions, with the idea from people around me that I manage the hard moments of life as well as possible, with a smile on my face. the hopelessness of those who wish for you to get the redemption…

11

I’ve only seen Naked from Mike Leigh but i found it interesting this also centers around a self-destructive self-loather who acts as a challenge/mirror to everyone around them. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is scary good as Pansy, what starts as a funny caricature suddenly reveals itself to be a scared, trapped animal projecting pain in all directions. When any squeak of healing is repressed and replaced by anger, the family is left to walk through life like ghosts. Super heart wrenching super good. Many were chatting in confusion about the ending walking out so go in with no expectations i guess!

3

walloping