‘Janet Planet’ Review – A Distant Orbit Into Motherhood

There’s a quiet, unmistakable stillness present in the long conversations and laughs shared by the characters in A24’s Janet Planet. Of the many ordinary, relatable scenarios that director Annie Baker takes us through, the core that we cling to is the mother-daughter relationship.

Set over the course of one 1991 summer, Janet Planet follows the wide-eyed, curious Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) as she navigates new people coming and going from her sunny Massachusetts life along with her strong-willed, empathetic mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson). Lacy and Janet seek independence from each other while also realizing how much more alike they are in ways they never quite realized before.

The structure is at times difficult to parse, the film is essentially plotless and simply interested in following these two characters at an unassuming time in their lives. In this manner, it mostly succeeds. Baker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, takes her first stab at a feature-length film — similar to Celine Song’s career trajectory to Past Lives, also distributed by A24.

While the emotional journey Baker’s story takes us on doesn’t always track over its nearly two-hour runtime, the film still remains a gently moving coming-of-age drama about the unexpected connections that we form in life — both with our immediate family and with travelers just stopping by.

The title of the film may be named after Janet, but Lacy is the true protagonist. We follow her as she takes piano lessons, lies to get out of camp, and claims, with no hesitation, that every moment of her life is hell. Lacy is discovering some of life’s harsh truths, filtered through her own growing-up experience, by observing her mother’s complicated relationship with men.

Cinematically, Baker knows when to pull in and pull out to give the viewer something concrete to latch onto. Maria von Hausswolff’s stunning camerawork places us at a far distance when Janet and Lacy have dinner with Janet’s boyfriends, evoking the feeling of a distant memory. In contrast, when Janet comforts and talks with Lacy in bed, the camera focuses much more closely on their expressions, bringing their unexplainable bond to life.

While the beginning and end portions of the film do drag on, the introduction of Regina (Sophie Okonedo), an old friend of Janet’s, brings a completely new perspective into the mix, marking the film’s strongest and most engaging act. Regina not only brings an outside figure into Lacy’s orbit but reminds Janet of the ways she perhaps hasn’t changed as much as she has convinced herself.

In addition to the dramatic elements at play, Janet Planet is also very funny, mainly thanks to Ziegler’s performance. Ziegler plays up Lacy’s innocence and hyper-confidence about the world around her, allowing us to watch that mold slowly break through discovering her mother’s sadness. Speaking of Lacy’s mother, Nicholson gives the most striking performance in the whole film. We watch Nicholson’s face subtly shift emotions throughout as she’s lying in bed, contemplating her choices and wondering if she’s doing it all right.

It certainly helps that Baker gives the cast some rich dialogue to work from. Even for audience members not familiar with Baker’s plays, this film is the work of somebody who has studied dialogue, subtext, and all of its implications. With this admirable directorial debut, Baker has established herself as a filmmaker and a writer to watch moving forward, even if the film’s sense of pacing and flow never makes our orbit into this world fully land.

Janet Planet is currently playing in theaters courtesy of A24.