‘Janet Planet’ Review: Julianne Nicholson Shines In Off-Beat Mother-Daughter Story From Pulitzer-Winning Playwright Annie Baker
deadline.com“Hi, I’m gonna kill myself,” an 11-year-old girl proclaims to her mom over a pay phone in what is clearly an attention-getting gesture.
Alarming as this may sound, it’s just part of the oddly arresting dynamics of Janet Planet, the distinctive first produced screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker, making her cinematic directorial debut.
This is an off-beat film to say the least, one rippling with modestly turbulent undercurrents that are presented in such a way that make parent-offspring relations at least as amusing as they are serious.
Beyond that, there is an unusual dramatic approach at play that partly turns its back on normal verbal interchange, one that embraces out-of-the-blue remarks and sidelong comments at the partial expense of conventional exposition and character development.
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