Hard Truths (2024)

We are introduced to Pansy on what seems to be a very bad day for her. She's angry: stomping around, furiously cleaning, snapping at her adult son. Her husband gets a dose of that anger when he comes home and, though he seems to take it in stride, there's some sadness there too. Soon enough, we find out that Pansy wasn't having a bad day. Rage is her default and it spills out onto everyone she encounters: retail workers, fellow drivers looking for a parking spot, her sister... literally everyone. In contrast, her sister tends to look at the bright side of things: she's got an easy relationship with her grown daughters and gives an interested ear to her clients in the salon. 

But Pansy's poison has infected her home in an incurable way. Her husband is beaten-down. Her son hasn't developed any social graces. While I felt kind of sorry for Pansy -- after all, she herself is also a prisoner of her anger -- my pity was mostly reserved for her family and the joy that has been sacrificed to her tyranny. That her sister almost succumbs to the sadness and guilt Pansy tries to shove onto her felt true. When you constantly hear that you're at fault or a disappointment, that kind of seeps into your bones, even if you're fairly certain it's not true.

I can't imagine a circumstance in which I'd ever recommend this, but it had an undeniable power.

B-