Janet Planet – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director – Annie Baker
Writer – Annie Baker
Stars – Zoe Ziegler, Luke Philip Bosco, June Walker Grossman

The writer/ director of this film, Annie Baker, could soon be a household name. Her play ‘Circle Mirror Transformation‘ was recently performed at the Gate Theatre. She also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2014 for her play “The Flick”. She has now crossed the divide from theatre to the silver screen, and Janet Planet is her debut as a film writer and director.

The film centres on Lacy (Zoe Ziegler), the eleven-year-old daughter of Janet (Julianne Nicholson), a single mother with a chequered career now working as an acupuncturist. They live in rural West Massachussets and it is the summer of 1991. Lacy is a solitary child and has apparently no friends. She is an observer of adults and in particular of her mother Janet.

Janet has friends, particularly the moody Wayne (Will Paton), who is Janet’s man friend. There is also Regina (Sophie Okoneda) with whom Janet discusses her life and the mistakes she has made. They all have been around the block. These friends of Janet populate her life and Lacy watches them come and go as she begins to come of age.  Lacy is a contemplative child and finds contentment in her bedroom with a small stage of miniature figurines which she lovingly handles. To an extent, Lacy lives in a world of her own but she also occupies the alternative world which Janet has chosen to inhabit.

Little happens other than Janet’s interface with Wayne, Regina and then Avi (Elias Koteas) but Lacy is a quiet observer of these daily happenings in Janet’s world. A moment of magic realism takes place in a clearing in the woods with fantastical creatures. This imaginative sequence complements the miniature theatre in Lacy’s bedroom which so fascinates her. The cinematography underscores a child’s view of what is happening. We see the world through Lacy’s eyes. Seated in the back of a car, she sees the back of the ear and side of the head of the two adults in the front, as they are chatting. It is an innovative piece of camera work.

The relationship between Janet and Lacy is what underscores the events. We have little idea how Lacy will develop in adulthood but we know that she was brought up by Janet in a loving home with an eclectic collection of adults around her. It is a glimpse into the world of an intelligent child who is an observer. It is a slow burner which fascinates.