Shadows on the Wall | Janet Planet

Janet Planet

dir-scr Annie Baker
prd Dan Janvey, Derrick Tseng, Annie Baker, Andrew Goldman
with Zoe Ziegler, Julianne Nicholson, Sophie Okonedo, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, Edie Moon Kearns, Mary Beth Brooker, Abby Harri, June Walker Grossman, Mary Shultz, Luke Bosco, Laura Litterer
release US 28.Jun.24,
UK 19.Jul.24
23/US A24 1h53

BERLIN FILM FEST

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Carefully observant, this low-key film is hushed, introspective and rather indulgent. Writer-director Annie Baker seems to be channelling her 11-year-old self, reconstructing an unusual childhood that fuelled her imagination. The mannered approach means that story only comes to life in brief spurts of insight, especially as the excellent cast adds details to characters who are somewhat undefined. But much of the film involves watching nothing happen at all.

In Western Massachusetts in 1991, preteen Lacy (Ziegler) is a lonely child who struggles to make friends. But she has a vivid internal life, playing with an assembled collection of tiny figurines she keeps in the forest cabin where she lives with her acupuncturist mother Janet (Nicholson). Janet is unusually open and honest with Lacy, expressing her deeper thoughts about life, including how she feels about a series of relationships with men like Wayne (Patton), plus her old friend Regina (Okonedo), who comes to stay after escaping from a puppeteering cult run by Avi (Koteas).

With a pace that's hesitant and sometimes downright sleepy, camera shots deliberately maintain Lacy's askance view of what's happening, so key elements are only seen tangentially, while more pointless moments linger much longer than is strictly necessary. It's clear from the start that Lacy has a distinct perspective on the world, and that she knows that she's not like the other kids. The questions she asks grown-ups are almost unnervingly knowing, often pushing adults into unexpected revelations.

Ziegler has terrific presence as the watchful Lacy, who carefully rolls everything around in her alert mind, but doesn't say much. She gets on with her own things and works to make sense of how others interact, which feeds intriguingly into the way she behaves. It's a delicate performances that's both earthy and steely. Nicholson has a wonderful openness as Janet, a woman who readily admits that she has found herself but knows she still has work to do. Her scenes with the wonderful Okonedo have lovely rhythms to them, even as their dialog rambles in circles.

The film's theme is summed up by Avi when he quotes the Buddhist philosophy that personal liberation depends on being willing to see truth beyond your own self-image. It's intriguing that Janet is desperate to do this, recognising that she traps herself in old patterns, and she also sees that Lacy is better than she is at seeing beyond herself. But the film's pretentiously elusive style will frustrate all but the most determined viewers.

themes, language 27.Jun.24

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