Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), protagonist of Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” opening Friday in Houston, is not the first postmenopausal cinematic antiheroine to ask to speak to a manager. But she is — apologies to Frances McDormand’s career — the most fascinating.

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.

The co-stars, who first played sisters in a 1993 Mike Leigh play, explain the iconoclastic director's unique method and how 'Hard Truths' took shape.

It’s amazing watching Mike Leigh’s film 'Hard Truths,' starring the extraordinary Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin, in an American theater.

Moviefone speaks with director Mike Leigh, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin about 'Hard Truths'. For me, films come from life, Leigh said.

ABC News’ Linsey Davis talks to Marianne Jean-Baptiste about her new movie “Hard Truths” and working without a defined script.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives an Oscar-caliber performance as a bitter angry woman who strikes out at everyone she encounters in this funny, painfully dramatic slice-of-life from veteran English director Mike Leigh.