Step aside Furiosa and Quiet Place: Day One – because a little indie film called Janet Planet looks set to be the movie of the summer.
The critically acclaimed drama, which has been dubbed ‘sublime’ by movie buffs online, is the directorial debut of Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Annie Baker.
The two-hour drama stars Julianne Nicholson as single mother Janet, whose 11-year-old daughter Lacy has come home early from camp and spending the summer in their Massachusetts home.
The coming-of-age film follows Lacy’s struggle to share her mother with new romantic partners and friends, with Forbes‘ film critic Scott Phillips describing Janet’s relationship with her daughter as ‘often spouse-like’.
The movie, which was released on 21 June, is produced by A24, the independent entertainment company that released Priscilla, Midsommar and Moonlight.
Pictured: Julianne Nicholson, left, and Zoe Ziegler in a scene from the coming-of-age film Janet Planet
Since its release, the film has won a cult following of fans on X, formerly known as Twitter.
One gushed: ‘Annie Baker’s Janet Planet is a sublime masterpiece. I will be watching it for the rest of my life.
‘A film about something there isn’t a word for but there should be: the experience of being young and trying to glean the extent to which you feel safe being a part of the world.’
Another added: ‘It was so good. I came out of it in a weird euphoria.’
Meanwhile, a third said the film should belong to its own genre – which they dubbed ‘safety-ism’.
On the movie review website Letterboxd, another fan of the film spoke about the lasting impact Janet Planet has had on them.
They wrote: ‘I’ll probably buy the Blu Ray and watch the first 25 minutes a thousand times over the next few years.
‘I don’t think anything on film has, or will ever, capture what being a kid felt like to me as well as this did.’
Since its release last month, the film has won a cult following of fans on X, formerly known as Twitter
On the movie review website Letterboxd , other fans of the film spoke about the lasting impact Janet Planet has had on them
Another chimed in with: ‘Living in this movie for the foreseeable future. Such a beautiful film.
‘The perfect comedic timing. It made me nostalgic for my younger self and also recognise my current self at the same time.’
When the film debuted at the 50th Telluride Film Festival last year, The Guardian‘s Adrian Horton wrote in a four-star review: ‘Such is life – not always the most interesting, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful.
‘You never know what will stick with you, but I expect some of this film will.’
Meanwhile, Stylist‘s Meg Walters added: ‘Janet Planet is ultimately a doomed love story about the painful realisation that our parents are not wholly our own – that there are entire worlds within them that we can’t quite grasp.
Pictured: Filmmaker and playwright Annie Baker, left, with actor Julianne Nicholson on the set of Janet Planet
‘To Lacy, Janet really is as big and unknowable as a planet.’
NPR’s critic Justin Chang also wrote a glowing review – arguing: ‘One of the movie’s subtlest achievements is the way it clues us into Janet’s perspective, even as it keeps Janet herself at a bit of a distance.
‘Much of the time we’re studying Janet through Lacy’s eyes, and what’s uncanny is the way Baker captures a sense of the girl’s growing disillusionment — that intensely specific moment when a child begins to see even a doting parent in a clear and not always flattering new light.’
Speaking to The Film Stage, Julianne spoke about filming Janet Planet and some of the non-verbal scenes.
She explained: ‘I felt excited by it. Especially because I trust Annie [the director] so implicitly. I’ve seen many of her plays and I know that she has an understanding of what to do with silence, with the moments in-between. I think it’s fun because you can’t prepare. So for me that’s exciting, in terms of moment-to-moment.’