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A.P. Murphy's avatar

Having just seen it I feel I can weigh in now. I largely agree with you and I wonder at the characterisation of the movie by the other audience members as "pointless" - it most definitely has a point, that living with depression is hard work for all who are contact with it. What I think they mean by that is that it doesn't have *a redemption arc* - people with patience are generally prepared to go through a lot of heartache a la Manchester by the Sea if they feel at the end the hard work has been rewarded and there's a glimmer. In rejecting that, Leigh deliberately sets himself up against the drama-arc as conventionally established.

I tend to disagree about the contemplative scenes in her living room in the mid-section. I think they were the best bits and showed a great power of unhurried and restrained camerawork. Conversely, the scenes with Pansy's nieces at work and at a bar were by far the weakest, a completely unjustified set of scenes in the dramatic sense - these really were pointless, IMO.

Very happy that you're willing to review world cinema, AY!

My Letterboxd review of this one, if you're interested

https://letterboxd.com/hootsmaguire/film/hard-truths-2024/

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Soph's avatar

Very complete analysis!

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