The hardest truth of all about Hard Truths is that, with Demi Moore’s recent Golden Globes win, the odds of Marianne Jean-Baptiste winning an Oscar have dropped, and this assumes she will receive a nomination at all.
On the other hand, as I often say about these sorts of pageants, “who gives a shit,” especially given that Moore is one of two bright spots in The Substance*, a comically bad film where the scaffolding erected to support the plot and themes is shoddy enough to bring the whole structure down. Jean-Baptiste, like Moore, is the central nerve system of her film, and she dominates proceedings with a force that reflects her character’s deep seated fears while also effectively actualizing the self-orientation that comes with them. But Hard Truths happens to be a good movie – great, even – all around, because Mike Leigh is incapable of making bad movies. So, there’s that.
Hard Truths opens wide today. If it’s near you: check it out. What happens to a person who internalizes their pain and ignores the bad hand dealt to them in childhood until they grow up into raging harriers? Watch this marvelous film to find out. Also: read my review at Pop Heist.
*Sorry, guys. Until this awards season is over, there is a low likelihood that I will cease bringing up The Substance to pour my contempt on it. It’s a bad movie, and I hate how much praise it’s gotten.
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