A24 is a studio that likes to give burgeoning filmmakers a chance to make their movies the way they want and about whatever topic they choose. Sometimes the stories are of a more personal nature. That’s the case with writer/director Annie Baker and her film Janet Planet. She has made an intimate story that seems very close to the heart. It just may not be the type of film that everybody and there will flock to see. I thought it was different from a lot of films and a bit of fresh air.

Lacy (Zoe Zeigler) is a young ten-year-old girl who has a striking resemblance to John Lennon. She lives with her mother Janet (Julianne Nicholson), the title character, in rural western Massachusetts in the early 90s. She is a shy girl who gets embarrassed easily.  Her mother is a chiropractor and has the business in an office adjacent to their home. She is a bit of a homebody. Lacy on the other hand has a bit of a free spirit.  She has a great relationship with her mother even though she says she can’t make friends with kids her own age. This relationship causes an interesting dynamic throughout the movie.

Baker sets the film with three distinct story arts. Each is named after one of three supporting characters, the first Wayne (Will Patton) is a boyfriend of Janet’s who has some health issues and doesn’t like Lacy. The second is Regina (Sophie Okenado) an old friend of Janet’s who she reconnects with at a Buddhist picnic outing she goes to with her daughter. The third is named after the leader of the Buddhist cult Avi (Elias Koteras) who wants to try to get Janet to join his cult. The three arts, beginning, middle, and end tie the film together very nicely. The heart of the story though is the relationship between mother and daughter.

Parker focuses the story mainly on the mother who has some difficulties with men and how she gets advice from her daughter about her love life and other personal matters about their lives. Usually, it works the other way around; the daughter is supposed to get advice from the mother about life and relationships.  This little girl is smarter than the average ten-year-old girl. She knows how to get her way as well. Various scenes involving a piano lesson, taking off school sick, and taking a shower show her lying when it benefits her best. Little girls do that sometimes.

One of the things about this movie that I loved was that it was filmed in the area in the film that the characters say they’re from. Massachusetts. Which is where I’m from, but the cinematography was very beautiful to me. I remember how beautiful western Mass, New Hampshire, and Vermont were when I was a kid. The cinematographer captured that look so well in this movie. There were many wide shots of mountains in the distance, forests, and one particular shot of fall where all the trees started changing colors which was gorgeous. 

The cast in this movie was good but Nicholson and Zeigler were definitely the two standouts. Most of the characters came across as were which didn’t give me a good impression of their true nature in the film. These are actors who have done good work in the past, but they didn’t impress me at all in this film. Nicholson and Zeigler as mother and daughter did impress me though. From what I gathered from the story they represented their characters perfectly. I loved their dynamic quite a bit. In the end, it just shows that some people aren’t very good mothers. That is what I gathered from this story the most. 

Janet Planet is an odd story about a mother and daughter. The maternal instincts weren’t there unfortunately for this woman.  Now the daughter was smarter than her years alive would dictate. The supporting cast was a bit of a letdown. The story as a whole was a bit boring. The best part of the movie was its cinematography.  I loved all the scenes shot outdoors. The house they lived in was cool as well. I wouldn’t want to live there in the winter though.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen