Janet Planet is a breathtaking film. It is so intimate in the way it looks at the relationship mothers and daughters share. And it demonstrates that no matter our age, we desperately want to be loved for all of our goodness and our complexities.

At 11 years old, Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) is just trying to survive the summer. Lacy watches as her mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), invites people into their lives and home in rural Western Massachusetts. 

Annie Baker’s film directorial debut Janet Planet examines the mother-daughter relationship as the summer of 1991 unfolds. Lacy is an inquisitive child. It stems from her late night conversations with her mother, conversations which tiptoe the fine line between age-appropriate explanations and an isolated adult needing emotional support from their child.  Janet is contemplating changing their dynamics after boyfriend of the season, Wayne (Will Patton) finds it odd that Janet and Lacy still share a bed. 

The men and their relationships in the film are complicated. Baker crafts men who feel very out of place in this world. They are hard to reach, always an arm’s length away from being fully understood. Meanwhile, the women are dynamic. Their vulnerability makes them warm and inviting, albeit sometimes thorny to be around. This becomes very apparent when Regina (Sophie Okonedo) comes to stay with Lacy and Janet. Regina has left kind of a cult masquerading as a theater troupe, also leaving behind her ex-partner Avi (Elias Koteas). Janet and Regina have known one another for a while, but have not seen each other in almost a decade. They feel both at home and worlds away from each other.  We see they are mirrored without having walked the exact same journey. It truly culminates in the pair talking about their own childhoods and struggles.  And we see Janet at her true core: a little girl who so deeply desires to be seen and loved for the person she is.  Janet and Lacy, mother and daughter, are far more similar than they either truly realizes.

The mother-daughter relationship is a complicated one. Baker, who comes from theater, understands how to emotionally draw you into her characters. But it is Nicholson and Ziegler who expertly embody Janet and Lacy, respectively, along with that intricate relationship. Nicholson has long shined in more supporting roles in film and television. With Janet, Nicholson finds her resilience. We are given glimpses to the road which brought Janet to this moment in her life: poor taste in men, complicated relationships with her family, financial support. Nicholson takes these elements that, in lesser hands, could have easily been used to diminish and even demonize Janet. Instead, it informs Nicholson’s humanistic approach to portraying Janet. They are all facets of Janet’s deepest insecurities and her largest hurdles to overcome. Time and again, Janet faces them with determination and grace. Nicholson does not paint some otherworldly woman who, despite her flaws is some saint-like figure; nor does she treat Janet as some pitiful person, doomed for repeated mistake. Rather, she finds Janet’s beauty in the way she moves through the world. 

It can be seen in Janet’s relationship with Lacy. While Janet struggles to hold the line between treating her child as her child versus treating Lacy as a friend, Janet is a parent who approaches their relationship with honesty, authenticity, and love. Lacy is not privy to everything, but what Janet chooses to share comes with a tenderness and thoughtfulness not many children receive from a parent. Nicholson clearly understood the importance of the relationship Janet and Lacy have; the way she delivers her lines, the way she moves through the tones of the time come with great intention. Those shifts and turns are aided by Ziegler’s performance as well. For a debut performance, Ziegler is a natural. She balances precociousness and vulnerability seamlessly. In a scene between Lacy and Regina, Regina asks Lacy about her friends. Lacy remarks she does not really have friends, nor does she know why. It is such a beautifully heartbreaking moment. Ziegler brings such compassion and truth to that scene, coloring so much of Lacy’s world with that single admission. 

With such rich characters, Baker uses the setting to add great depth to story. Filmed in rural Massachusetts, Baker understood how the setting was as much a character as our mother-daughter duo. Rural communities are seen as small, but Baker ensured, with cinematographer Maria von Hausswold, that what the area lacked in population, it was rich in natural beauty. At the start of The Berkshires, we see the way in which a largely isolated place holds wonder and allure. The attention given to rural Massachusetts speaks volumes to the attention also given to Lacy and Janet. 

Janet Planet is a breathtaking film. It is so intimate in the way it looks at the relationship mothers and daughters share. And it demonstrates that no matter our age, we desperately want to be loved for all of our goodness and our complexities. With awe-inspiring performances from Nicholson and Ziegler, it would be no surprise if this film re-emerges around theGotham Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards. Regardless of awards possibilities, Janet Planet is an endlessly moving and powerful film as it cuts to the core of womanhood, of girlhood, and our innate humanness. 

Grade: A+

Oscars Prospects
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Actress (Julianne Nicholson)

Release Date: June 28, 2024

Where to Watch: In Theaters