Pansy (played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, best remembered as the Hortense of Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies, in 1996) henpecks her lazy husband Curtley (David Webber), bullies her overweight son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), torments her patient sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) and her two adorable nieces, and viciously confronts anyone who dares to cross her path, be that at the supermarket till, the car park or the doctor’s. She find happy people particularly offensive. Even animals are a threat to our not-so-loving protagonist: the mere sight of a fox, a pigeon or an insect triggers her. Pansy is some sort of female British version of American misanthrope Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), of As Good As It Gets (James L. Brooks, 1997). A self-righteous and aggressive sociopath, and an OCD housewife.

At first, Pansy looks like a unidimensional character. Mike Leigh has often created personages with exaggerated personalities, such as the sickeningly sweet Cynthia of Secrets and Lies, the paralysingly happy-go-lucky Poppy of Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), The brutally honest Vera of Vera Drake (2004), and many others. This middle-aged woman is incapable of a loving gesture, responding to just about any action – selfish or well-intentioned – with sheer contempt, snide comments and indeed the most shocking insults. This is often to the point of absurdity: she threatens her husband with a kick to the balls that “will send his sperm to his brain”, calls her new GP “a squeaking mouse with glasses”, and screams uncontrollably at a man who dared to ask for her parking spot. The dialogues often lapses into the farcical.

Gradually, the reasons for Pansy’s frustrations begin to surface. She only married Curtley because she was “too scared of being alone”. Her husband expects her to behave like a housemaid, and her son is following a very similar pattern. Moses is 22 years of age, not working, and unwilling to to make prepare a cup of tea for himself. And she shares a secret or two with her sister, whom she blames for being her mother’s number-one daughter. Chantelle insists that she very much loves her sibling, despite being unable to understand her. All hell breaks loose on Mother’s Day, as the two siblings visit their mum’s grave and attempt to connect the two families over lunch. Bitter commensality remains Mike Leigh’s favourite dish. Race and class are just small appetisers in this banquet of family grievances.

Despite a few enlightening moments, Hard Truths never reaches the same dramatic heights as Naked (1993), Secrets and Lies or even the slightly less masterful Vera Drake. After a while and despite Jean-Baptiste’s committed performance, Pansy’s unflinching cruelty and incessant micro-aggressions become repetitive, and the character turns a little caricatural. As a consequence – and despite the 81-year-old director’s unique elicitation technique – the interactions slip into contrivance. The reasons behind Pansy’s dysfunctional behaviour are only superficially explored, and the titular punch-on-the-face moments never materialise. This is not an emotional knock-out film experience, but instead more of a soft blow.

Hard Truths premiered in the Official Competition of the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival. It was the fourth British entry to the Festival’s main selection, after Edward Berger’s Conclave, Laura Carreira’s On Falling, and John Crowley’s We Live in Time.