Janet Planet
12A
In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet. As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet and her spellbinding nature. In her solitary moments, Lacy inhabits an inner world so extraordinarily detailed that it begins to seep into the outside world.
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.
Details
“Like a snapshot of a time of innocence, Janet Planet makes you ponder those complex scenarios you couldn’t understand when you were a kid, whether they were fights your parents had or the inner struggles of strangers.”
Loud and Clear
“She [Baker] re-arrives fully formed as a film artist, with a developed and stunningly self-assured visual language bolstered by unhurried confidence behind the camera. This is not just one of the great films of its year, but one of the finest first films in the annals of the medium.”
Little White Lies
“Janet Planet is a welcome rebuttal to the dominant modes of popular art – the trauma plot, or our overemphasis on narrative.”
The Guardian
