Set in western Massachusetts during the foggy summer of 1991, Janet Planet, the directorial debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker, exquisitely captures the texture of this time and place through an adolescent gaze. While Baker’s pieces involve lengthy scenes in enclosed spaces, his foray into filmmaking is formally assured, implementing his long-standing interest in sharp but meandering dialogue alongside lush 16mm footage. Some might find her narrative style vapid, but fans of her broader work will find familiar solace – and broad fascination – in the understated details she conveys to celluloid.
After calling home with deadpan threats of suicide, 11-year-old Lacy (impressive newcomer Zoe Ziegler) convinces her mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), to pick her up from what was supposed to be a summer camp. prolonged. Only then does Lacy realize that moving back home may not have been the wisest decision, as she will have to share her space with her mother’s current boyfriend, Wayne (Will Patton). Clearly irritated that the presence of the brash and curious child means less one-on-one time with Janet, Wayne begins to experience intense “migraines” that result in Lacy being virtually banned from making any noise or entering in certain rooms of the house. Perhaps this is a rebellion – unconscious or intentional – against Lacy’s insistence that Janet sleep with her at night.
While Lacy’s relationship with her mother is peppered with classic signs of codependency, Janet is all too eager to share her time with a revolving door of lovers, friends, and spiritual guidance, much to frustration. poorly concealed from her daughter. Janet Planet explores three of these relationships through loose chapters.
After Wayne is fired (“I think you need to break up with him,” Lacy candidly admits after Janet asks for his honest opinion), his old friend Regina (Sophie Okonedo) is invited to stay at the duo’s sunny cabin. located in the middle of a bucolic forest. A performer in a theater troupe that she believes is not as bigoted as it seems, Regina retreats into Janet’s hospitality as she recovers from her breakup with the non-sect’s founder. Eventually, Avi (Elias Koteas), the strangely zen leader in question, begins spending time with Janet, who even adopts new meditative techniques in response to his influence. Lacy watches these interactions unfold with familiar suspicion and envy. Even though she’s used to strangers being drawn to her mother’s magnetism, the pain of constantly having to share her attention never dulls.
It’s fitting that Lacy is often the target of his mother’s emotional sting, given that the latter runs an acupuncture practice (which gives the film its name) out of a standalone office on their property. For all the pain relief that Janet strives to provide to her patients, she cannot ease Lacy’s general anxiety, which manifests itself largely socially. (“I generally have trouble making friends,” she admits to Regina during a charming conversation in the car.) Although Janet sometimes distances herself from her daughter, she deeply understands Lacy as a person. other. Her parenting approach may lack appropriate boundaries (for example, Lacy is far too aware of her mother’s insecurities and how it affects her love life), but she still treats her daughter as a fully formed person who she will love and support unconditionally. What Janet doesn’t really understand, however, is that a child won’t just start behaving like an adult just because he or she is treated like one.
Deeply felt bonds, yet strained by emotional disappointments, are also explored in The film, the 2013 play that won Baker his Pulitzer. Centering around three employees of a crumbling movie theater in Worcester, Massachusetts, the three-hour production incorporates silence and seemingly inconsequential cinephilic dialogue to deliver a strangely haunting tale of betrayal and entitlement. Janet Planet similarly, it focuses on the potential ordinariness, from Lacy’s solitary stroll to and from terrible piano lessons to Avi’s lengthy spiritual ramblings. Yet Baker is also sensitive to the way routine environments can be reinforced by a child’s rosy perspective—a mall becomes an elaborate playground, a new shampoo at shower time an exciting experience—reinforced here by the magic of summer smog.
However Janet Planet seems somewhat emblematic of Baker’s existing narrative and thematic interests, it only really works in film form. On the one hand, the writer-director isn’t convinced that a young stage actress can accurately imbue Lacy’s deep-seated awkwardness. (“I’m sure there’s an awesome 10 year old who could be in Mathilde…But she wouldn’t be suitable for the film,” she said in a recent profile.) Although the lack of dialogue is definitely felt in the film, Janet Planet never feels imbued with silence. Instead of a traditional soundtrack, Baker and sound designer Paul Hsu spent two weeks recording ambient sound in remote areas of western Massachusetts, from the nighttime chorus of chirping crickets to the booming chirping of birds in an after -bright midday. Lacy may spend a lot of time alone, but she feels captivated by the natural splendor of her surroundings, much like a mother’s love envelops the soul even when physical separation is necessary, and perhaps even ultimately healthy, as painful as cutting the cord may be.
Baker made a stunning film debut while remaining grounded in theater, incorporating theatrical performances on several occasions. Whether she delights in impressive local productions or Lacy’s miniature stage for an assortment of toys, the vast possibilities inherent in staging a play are always at the forefront of her mind. Again Janet Planet allows Baker to flex his cinematic muscles, which extend beyond The filmCheeky matching games. Few artists can so fluidly transcend artistic labels, but Annie Baker has proven that she possesses the natural talent for telling understated stories across all mediums.