Janet Planet (2023)

In the summer of 1991, in rural Massachusetts, Annie Baker finds the ideal setting to debut a film that aspires to be true cinema.

‘Janet Planet is presented as a series of long, fixed shots that, from the distance provided by the camera, examine the unique relationship between a mother and her daughter.

Each adult who enters the mother's life contributes to the structure of the film, which unfolds in three acts.

Despite its leisurely pace and apparent lack of action, ‘Janet Planet’ is unpretentious, thanks to Baker's writing and direction, where this sparseness becomes an almost hallucinatory experience.

The director's cinematic narrative clearly reflects her theatrical training, incorporating elements and situations that, while not advancing the plot, influence the overall atmosphere of the drama.

Thus, the surface of the story seems static, while uncontrollable storms rage inside the protagonists.

Maria von Hausswolff's cinematography is notable for its use of natural light, while Paul Hsu's dense and lush sound design complements the experience.

The performance of Zoë Ziegler, who plays Lacy, is impressive. Lacy is a misfit, shy and shy girl with a dramatic flair that tends towards exaggeration.

Although she doesn't have much to say and, when she does, barely utters more than a sentence, her face communicates deep uncertainty and repressed feelings.

Lacy doesn't cry or get angry; she lives through her mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), as if she were an extension of her own being.

‘Janet Planet is a symbolic film that Annie Baker infuses with a theatrical mood. Every word and action carries weight, without the work fearing its own artificiality. Though sparse on action, it is full of implications.

Shot on 16mm celluloid, the play captures moments that become comforting memories, while other scenes highlight the frustrations of an emotionally tumultuous childhood, which can be far more absorbing than the indulgences of the adult world.