B'way/Film Reviews: Cult of Love; Hard Truths

The cast of Cult of Love.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Here we go again. It’s time for yet another dysfunctional family reunion. Cult of Love, presented by Second Stage at the Hayes Theater after a production at Berkeley Repertory Theater, is the third play this season (following The Hills of California and The Blood Quilt) to dissect the familial ties that bind. Once again estranged siblings gather and squabble over past hurts and present estrangements. The difference between Cult and the previous two is the parents are still living and providing an additional source of conflict. Despite the familiarity of the territory, Leslye Headland’s solid script avoids melodramatic cliches, Trip Cullman’s direction admirably juggles several storylines simultaneously while building suspense, and the cast couldn’t be better.

It’s Christmas Eve at the Dahl house. The family name is not insignificant given that John Lee Beatty’s comfy-cozy-Christmas-crazy set resembles a domicile for domestic playthings or dolls. One of the adult children’s spouses even sarcastically refers to the family manse as “Santa’s workshop.” Like Nora in Ibsen’s similarly named A Doll’s House, the Dahl house kids are struggling to grow up. As Bill the near-senile father (David Rasche skillfully navigating the cognition waters) relates, he and his wife Ginny (Mare Winningham beautifully balancing affection and manipulation) both came from abusive backgrounds and have vowed to be different. But as a result, they have created a “cult of love” (hence the title) where their offspring are suffocated and unable to completely stand on their own. Religion, a topic rarely addressed in modern American drama, is also on the table with the senior Dahls’ unquestioning embrace of rigid Christianity causing problems for the second generation.

Shailene Woodley, Christopher Sears, 
Rebecca Henderson, and Zachary Quinto
in Cult of Love.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The eldest child Mark (Zachary Quinto, expert at suppressing inner turmoil) is conflicted about his faith, legal career, and marriage to sharp-tongued Rachel (spiky, funny Molly Bernard) who happens to be Jewish. Lesbian daughter Evie (equally edgy Rebecca Henderson) still bristles at her deeply religious family’s qualified acceptance of her marriage to Pippa (Roberta Colindrez, strongly supportive). Johnny (a buoyant Christopher Sears) uses jolly energy to deal with his drug addiction and has brought his sponsor, the hip Loren (Barbie Ferreira, making the most of a small role) along for the holidays. Youngest child Diana (Shailene Woodley in a shattering portrayal of mental short-circuiting) is pregnant with her second child and together with her husband James, an Episcopal priest (Christopher Lowell, a keenly observed liming of confused weakness) is trying to start a new church. But Diana appears to be suffering from delusions of divine visitations. 

Bill and Ginny are constantly leading the family in super-cheerful Christmas carols—all the actors play their own instruments—to smother the kids’ pesky concerns about Bill’s progressive memory loss, Johnny’s struggles with drugs, Diana and James’ financial woes, etc. etc. There was one carol too many for me. There could have been less sing-alongs and the point of avoiding uncomfortable truths would still have been made. It also felt like Headland’s characters were occasionally giving speeches to each other rather than reacting naturally. This was particularly true when the secular members of the family were castigating Diana and Jeff for their intolerance and the play devolved into a debate. Other than these flaws, Cult of Love is a riotous, tender family comedy-drama sure to be seen on numerous regional stages.

Marianne Jean-Bapiste in
Hard Truths.
Credit: Studio Canal

Mike Leigh’s latest film Hard Truths also has a shattering family holiday scene and is much closer to how most clans react to difficult emotions. The holiday is Mother’s Day and the two moms couldn’t be more different. Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste in a brilliantly scathing performance) has alienated everyone around her, especially her put-upon husband Curtley (David Webber) and unemployed son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). Beset by depression, anger and physical ailments, Pansy lashes out at everyone around her and has cowed the men in her life into bewildered silence. By contrast, Pansy’s sister Chantal (Michele Austin in a less showy but strong turn) is able to laugh with her grown daughters and act as a listener and friend to her hairstyling clients. At Mother’s Day, the Pansy is for once quiet, overcome with her inability to cope with life, while Chantal tries to coax her into emerging for her cocoon of pain and frustration. 

The Mother's Day scene from Hard Truths.
Credit: Studio Canal

This sequence is shattering and is only one in a film full of painfully funny, piercingly real moments. Pansy rails hilariously against sales clerks, grocery cashiers, doctors, dentists and anyone who happens to cross her path. Chantal is seen connecting with her customers like a sister and her daughters are portrayed at work encountering difficult bosses but not letting them ruin their outlooks. His theme is life is what you make it. Leigh provides no clear resolution for Pansy, rendering this a difficult and somewhat depressing film. The final scenes depict Pansy on the edge of possibly making a change, but, we are left hanging.

After the historic epics Turner and Peterloo, Leigh is returning to the intimate character studies such as Life Is Sweet, All or Nothing, Another Year, and Secrets and Lies for which Jean-Bapiste received an Oscar nomination. For her uncompromising work here, she deserves another and the award itself.

Cult of Love: Dec. 12—Feb. 2, 2025. Second Stage at the Hayes Theatre, 240 W. 44th St., NYC. Running time: 100 mins. with no intermission. 2st.com.

Hard Truths: Opened in limited release Dec. 6 and in wide release Jan. 10, 2025.