AMERICAN INDIES

JANET PLANET

2023 / 110 min / color

The film debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Anna Baker is set in the early 1990s in the idyllic landscape of western Massachusetts. It’s a story about the development and transience of human relationships. The key relationship in the film is clearly the one between 11-year-old Lacy (young Zoe Ziegler, in a moving performance) and her single, somewhat enigmatic mother Janet (an excellent Julianne Nicholson). Three adults also drop into their world like meteorites, convincingly portrayed by esteemed actors Will Patton, Sophie Okonedo, and Elias Koteas. Exceptionally mature for her age and blessed with a keen sense of humor, Lacy feels more comfortable in the company of older people than with kids her own age. When she’s lonely, she escapes into an elaborate fantasy world, which eventually starts to permeate her reality. Director Annie Baker has said that this was the first film idea she ever had, but the script took years to develop. This may be due to the personal tone of the story, which draws heavily on the environment in which Baker grew up. All this contributes to making Janet Planet an intimate study of two women who have a lot in common, but also sharp differences between them.