Baker, who grew up in Amherst, knows the texture of those Massachusetts summers by heart. She also knows the kinds of people who populate the area, sending Janet and Lacy at one point to a midsummer mystical theatrical presentation, complete with larger-than-life puppetry, after which everyone is implored to take home all the extra zucchini the group grew by accident. “Janet Planet” is a tiny masterpiece, and it’s so carefully constructed, so loaded with details and emotions and gentle comedy, that it’s impossible to shake once it gets under your skin.
The film is divided into three big sections, centering on three adults who show up in Janet’s life, and thus Lacy’s, in the summer of 1991. First there’s Wayne (Will Patton), Janet’s boyfriend, who was expecting to have the summer alone with her. Later, there’s Regina (Sophie Okonedo), who needs a place to stay after leaving a group that’s part commune, part theater troupe and maybe part cult. Finally, there’s the leader of that group, Avi (Elias Koteas), who takes an interest in Janet and her spiritual development.
Each of these side characters is introduced theatrically — intertitles grandly announce their names as they appear in the tale, and flash an “End” onscreen when they exit. They are supporting characters in the drama that at first appears to be Lacy’s but, we eventually come to realize, is actually Janet’s. She is sorting through what her life ought to be after a period of apparent chaos, and Lacy, like most children on the verge of adolescence, is only dimly aware of her mother as a person and not just an accessory to her own existence.
This summer, though, is a kind of quiet turning point for them both, portrayed with precise and effortless wit by Ziegler and Nicholson. Lacy is nervous and bright and curious and observant — so observant, in fact, that Janet tells Avi one day, “Sometimes I feel like she’s watching me,” even when her daughter isn’t actually there. Lacy’s a loner who feels a bit on the outside of everything, working out her loneliness by arranging and rearranging her tiny figurines into tableaux of parties that incorporate bits of detritus she’s collected. At the same time, Janet is trying to figure out why she feels caught in repeating cycles of disappointment. “I’ve always had this knowledge that I could make any man fall in love with me if I really tried,” she confesses to Lacy one night, almost without realizing she’s doing it. “I think it’s ruined my life.”
Baker has a longstanding fascination with movies — “The Flick,” perhaps her most famous play, takes place in a cinema, and she’s cited many movies among her influences. She’s directed theater as well, so perhaps it’s no surprise that her feature debut as a director feels unusually assured and confident. The graceful observations of “Janet Planet” render the two characters’ development almost imperceptible, hidden behind silences and what goes unsaid. You’ve got to lean in to catch some details: the moments framed from Lacy’s perspective, the look behind her eyes, the smile on Janet’s face. Movies are often built on moments of revelation, but in “Janet Planet” they’re more of a slow roll, a lot more like life. This summer, Janet is searching for both meaning and a means to forgetting the self, just as Lacy is starting to understand her self.