Janet Planet (12A)

★★★★ Julianne Nicholson and newcomer Zoe Ziegler are a dream team in the Pulitzer prize-winning US playwright Annie Baker’s richly cinematic film debut. ~ The Observer.

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Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker captures a child’s experience of time passing, and the ineffability of a daughter falling out of love with her mother, in this singularly sublime film debut.

In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet.

As the months pass, three visitors enter their orbit, all captivated by Janet and her spellbinding nature.

In her solitary moments, Lacy inhabits an inner world so extraordinarily detailed that it begins to seep into the outside world.

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★★★★★ A riveting tale of relationships with a dash of Grimm spookiness, playwright Annie Baker’s debut is a tenderly mysterious coming-of-age story. ~ The Telegraph.

★★★★ Baker understands the complexity of mothers and daughters. ~ The i.

★★★★ Nicholson, best known for her roles in ‘Blonde’ and ‘Mare of Easttown’, radiates fierce intelligence and self-possession as a woman who makes up the entirety of her 11-year-old’s world. ~ The Independent.

★★★★ Despite a spare approach to narrative, the film impressively remains absorbing and evocative of its time and place. ~ Radio Times.

★★★★ ~ The i.

★★★✭ ~ The Guardian.