Legendary British filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the contemporary world with a fierce, compassionate, and often darkly humorous study of family and the thorny ties that bind us. Reunited with Leigh for the first time since her Oscar-nominated turn in Leigh’s 1996 film SECRET AND LIES, the astonishing Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. Meanwhile, her easygoing younger sister, played by Michele Austin (ANOTHER YEAR), is a single mother with a life as different from Pansy’s as their clashing temperaments – brimming with communal warmth from her salon clients and daughters alike. 

This expansive film from a master dramatist takes us into the intensities of kinship, duty, and the most enduring of human mysteries: that even through lifetimes of hurt and hardship, we still find ways to love those we call family.

“A gruelling but ultimately rewarding experience, this is Leigh at his most confrontational, devastating and humane, aided by the unadulterated power of Jean-Baptiste’s career-redefining performance.” (Empire Magazine)

“Jean-Baptiste will rightly take all the plaudits, but it’s a reminder of the careful work Mike Leigh does. For all the naturalism, Leigh is a stylist as much as Pedro Almodovar is, just one more interested in capturing scared humans than plot.” (London Evening Standard)

“‘Hard Truths’ is a film for a world that has only gotten angrier, yet its prolific central collaboration cleverly suggests that enduring mutual respect is a force powerful enough to combat such profound rage.” (Salon.com)

Saturday, March 1
Doors 2:50 pm | Movie 3:20 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.
Tickets HERE

HARD TRUTHS (Mike Leigh, 2024 / 97 mins / PG) Ongoing exploration of the contemporary world with a tragicomic study of human strengths and weaknesses.

*Minors OK. Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK for any single film only. Please redeem at the door.
*We recommend purchasing your tickets in advance at www.riotheatretickets.ca. If a screening or live event is not sold out, the remaining tickets will be available for in-person purchase at the Rio Theatre’s Box Office prior to showtime (subject to availability).
*Our box office is typically open 30 minutes before showtime. All seating is General Admission; please arrive 20-30 minutes prior to showtime to ensure great seats, and time for treats at concession.
*If you are looking to redeem either a Rio Theatre gift certificate or Groupon to any regular Rio Theatre screening: You can either email us in advance <[email protected]> and give us a “heads up,” or do it at the box office prior to showtime.

*All Rio Theatre tickets are final sale. No refunds or exchanges.