Leigh never lets his audience escape the underlying humiliation and helplessness Pansy feels, and Pansy never allows herself that grace either. In that respect, calling the film “Hard Truths” almost implies a well-earned victory lap for a filmmaker who has dedicated his work to elucidating the complexities of the human condition,

The director's latest misanthropic drama, following such films as "Bleak Moments" and "Naked," is a puckeringly sour delight, socked over by Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

She reteams with her "Secret and Lies" director, Mike Leigh, for this brutally funny drama about a British woman consumed with anger.

Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste joins Morning Joe to discuss her role in Mike Leigh's new film 'Hard Truths,' where she plays the deeply unhappy and angry character Pansy. 'Hard Truths' marks the first time Jean-Baptiste and Leigh have worked together since the 1996 film 'Secrets and Lies'.

Yet that scene is a miracle precisely for what Jean-Baptiste does with it. The role couldn’t be more different from the actress’s Oscar-nominated turn in Leigh’s “Secrets & Lies” (1996), as a graceful and assured Black woman confronting her flummoxed White birth mother (Brenda Blethyn).

Baptiste, known for roles in "How to Get Away with Murder" and "Without a Trace," is receiving serious Oscar buzz for her performance in "Hard Truths." Reuniting with director Mike Leigh, Jean-Baptiste portrays Pansy Deacon,

To say that the British actor and director Mike Leigh have given us their best collaboration to date is too mild a sentiment. They've gifted us with a masterpiece of bruised humanity