Janet Planet delivers a beautiful message, as well as beautiful visuals, but unfortunately it never goes beyond that, ultimately falling flat.
Janet Planet has an honest message but aside from looking slightly satisfying, delivers nothing else. This film is undoubtedly beautiful both visually and in its message – following Janet, played by Julianne Nicholson, and her daughter Lacy, played by Zoe Ziegler – the film is about the relationship between this mother and daughter during the summer of 1991.
While the months pass Lacy is overcome by her mother’s attention and her own imagination, this is in addition to different men coming in and out of Janet’s life. The film focuses on so much solidarity and detail but though that works for exploring the relationship, it makes the rest of the film boring.
The core of Janet Planet is the relationship and it works. Both actresses are amazing and their chemistry is even better than you would expect. The vulnerable moments between the two feel so devastating but truthful, it really carries the entire film.
The best thing about this film is how Zoe Ziegler carries an amazing comedic performance. Even in moments of devastation the delivery by Ziegler is perfect. On top of this her evolution as a character doesn’t seem like much in the span of the film but looking back at the film the consistent relief was something the film really needed.
The comedy as a whole was very useful for how slow the movie was. Even aside from specifically the character of Lacy, the male characters surrounding Janet were amazing and as the audience we knew the comedic use of them, and they played into it.
Aside from the performances, Janet Planet is very boring. The biggest problem for me was how the shot composition poorly affected the pacing. With an already slow concept for the film, one that relies on observance, the cinematography never helps.
The composition itself is very satisfying, symmetrical, something not color but composition wise, similar to Wes Anderson. Sadly that is where the compositions pros end. Since everything is so wide, the intimacy of the relationship is easily dissolved.
Additionally, 99% of the time the camera is static and it makes the film even more boring. The word pretentious is overused, but that is exactly what the film evolves into.
The beginning is very forward with characters and ideas, keeping everything simple, which is what a movie with such a simple premise needs to do. Sadly though at the time passes the filmmaking tries to do too much, the evolution feels so unnatural that it turned me away from the film.
The 90’s aesthetic makes it look cool but as the film progressed the idea of style over substance was the only thing on my mind.
Aside from the very poor cinematography, the other technical aspects are fine. The music supervision was never meaningful to me but matched the vibes of the film so it was never a nuisance.
The writer/director Annie Baker is fine – she never seems to put a stamp visually, at least a stamp that elevated the alright writing. This makes sense because this is the first film she has directed, previously writing plays and a television show. The writing does feel very play like in the sense that everything feels over planned.
Again this can work when Janet Planet fully dives into it, such as with films like Fantastic Mr. Fox and The French Dispatch, but here the director never commits to the absurdity of a play. The realistic relationship that takes so much emotion out of the audience is never supported by any other element. Pacing, sets, and the films itself feels so disjointed from the get-go, making it an overall bore.
Rating: 4 out of 10
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About Janet Planet
It’s the summer before Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) starts sixth grade, and she is spending the lazy months with her acupuncturist mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), in their home in the woods. As the months drift by, the bespectacled, taciturn girl, fiercely observant, watches Janet and three enigmatic adults who drift in and out of their lives, whether romantic interests or reconnected friends.
Set in 1991 rural Western Massachusetts, the superb debut film from Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Annie Baker is a work of surreal tranquility that moves at a different, lost pace of life, and which perceives heartbreak just as Lacy is beginning to grasp the world and her place in it. Baker has created a film about a mother and daughter quite unlike any other, heightening the viewer’s senses and expressing oceans of feeling with the smallest gestures.
Nicholson and Ziegler perform their roles with an inspiring lack of sentimentality, and the wondrous supporting cast includes Elias Koteas, Sophie Okonedo, and Will Patton. An A24 release.
Janet Planet played at the 2023 NYFF.
Aryan is an aspiring content creator and journalist who loves all genres of movies. He is passionate about discussing and having conversations about anything and everything pop culture related.