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With Her Debut Feature ‘Janet Planet,’ Annie Baker Fractures a Girl’s Love for Her Hippie Mother— and Takes ‘Maniacal Pleasure’ in the Slow Burn
'Janet Planet' director Annie Baker talks going from theater to directing the A24 feature — and the 'maniacal pleasure' of her pauses.
Expanding its limited release from A24 this weekend after a New York opening, the film provides a fresh, new landscape for Baker’s signature mastery of the loose rhythms of small talk and agonizing, emotionally evocative silences. As a carousel of the Janet’s dubious romantic partners and troubled house guests enter her orbit, the onslaught of awkward experiences casts a curious shadow over Lacy, who can only bear witness to her mother’s private life as she is thoughtlessly included in it. Subtle glimpses of Lacy’s day-to-day, like her long forest-side trudges to passionless piano lessons and her mother’s hippie lifestyle flair, bring a specificity to the film that furthers a sense of privacy around its characters.
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