SCREEN | Julianne Nicholson Orbits 'Janet Planet'

"Someone lit himself on fire here."

A24 / BBC Film

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker makes her illuminating filmmaking debut in the moving, coming-of-age mother/daughter drama, Janet Planet, set in early-'90s rural Western Massachusetts. As the planetary title suggests, the indie film explores a young girl's less-than-healthy "orbit" around her struggling single mom.

Celebrated character actress Julianne Nicholson and newcomer Zoe Ziegler star as the aforementioned family duo, the eponymous Janet and eleven-year-old Lacy, who share a tricky relationship and bond where the latter remains unhealthily attached to the former. Janet, an acupuncturist hippie, spends the summer of 1991 making bad decisions, breaking hearts, lazing about, and trying to inject some independence into her meek daughter.

Baker's naturalistic depiction of a daughter's aching attachment to her parent paints an intimately vulnerable portrait of motherhood sublimely. Her eye for effortless human drama makes Janet Planet all the more touching a poignant picture of female maturity at different ages.

Janet Planet will be available to stream on various digital platforms and through video on demand starting July 30th.


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