‘Janet Planet’ review: Orbiting a coming of age story with a fine eye

Zoe Ziegler is maladjusted 11-year-old Lacy, Julianne Nicholson is her acupuncturist single mother, Janet. Writer-director Annie Baker takes us inside their world and lets us observe the micro-rhythms of their life with a sense of remove so quiet and still that a sneeze would feel like an action sequence.

The movie opens with Lacy calling her mother from summer camp, threatening to kill herself if she doesn’t come pick her up. She’s not really suicidal, but she knows mom will come get her, and she’s immediately regretful when she sees she’s brought along her boyfriend Wayne (Will Patton) along with her for the ride.

Moreso she’s miffed that Wayne is around at all, but he’s not around for long. He’s the first of a revolving door of significant others that Janet cycles through — see also Regina (Sophie Okonedo) and Avi (Elias Koteas) — as she figures out her own world, and where she fits into it. In their own ways, both Janet and Lacy are coming of age.