Theater Veteran Annie Baker Turns to Film With Berlin Festival Title ’Janet Planet’ Starring Julianne Nicholson

variety.com:

Shayeza Walid MacArthur Fellow Annie Baker is an acclaimed playwright and theater director, winning the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for drama for “The Flick,” among other accolades.

Now, with the release of the delicate mother-daughter drama “Janet Planet,” both written and directed by Baker, the esteemed theater veteran makes her directorial film debut.

Baker began writing “Janet Planet” in the early days of the pandemic, completing it in December 2020. However, for Baker, this project was a long time in the making. “I’ve been thinking about writing this story which explores a very particular kind of love for a long time, and I even had some notes on it from like 20 years ago, sparse ones, but still, from college.” In “Janet Planet,” 11-year-old Lacey (Zoe Ziegler) has a difficult time separating from her mother, Janet, (Julianne Nicholson) in the summer before starting middle school.

The film sees Janet’s life as a single mother and her relationship with friends and lovers, through Lacey’s eyes. Set against the backdrop of a 1990s Western Massachusetts suburb, the film follows Lacey’s transforming perspective on her mother, from profound admiration to a subtle detachment. “I don’t want to universalize it but there’s a very deep sensual love children have for mothers at an early age.