Janet Planet- A24’s Spin On Coming Of Age Movies
Quick Take: A24 gravitates toward movies that that take often typical concepts and present them in atypical fashion. Case in point, Annie Baker’s feature directorial debut Janet Planet, which evokes a similar style of last year’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?, which was well received already. Toss that into a blender, with a dash of and a dash of a more complicated mother/daughter dynamic like in something like Anywhere But Here or 13, and you have the groundwork for this three act story. What looks like a coming of age story, flips and focuses quite often on the mother (Julianne Nicholson), who is technically the titular character, as her wellness clinic is the title of the movie. But, the story is told in three acts that revolve around the men Janet meets, or women, and looks at her life through those she seems to change her life to revolve around. You would expect Janet Planet to be as simple as Janet being the center of the universe, with everyone revolving around her, but she feels often more like the satellite orbiting another. Her daughter, who we see this whole thing unspool through, is really just a side character in Janet’s atmosphere most of the times. It is an interesting story and radical look, which is why I appreciate A24 for pushing little indies forward. But, this feels like a one time watch for me. I’m not excited to visit this planet again, though I would still recommend watching once. This does currently have a nice audio description track available, especially on MAX. For more, check out my video.