mom (not married) This extremely chamber family story with a minimum of characters in the final turns into a grandiose epic “Liberation”. There are no high-profile events in Planet Janet: no deaths, no scandals, no intrigues, no mysteries. Meanwhile, the whole picture is about an endless chain of losses without acquisitions. A number of household semi-anecdotes are combined into a canvas filled with extreme sadness. Annie Baker radically changes the narrative: the title character on the screen is given much less time than the character just central - her 11-year-old daughter Lacey. The personal life of a young woman, seen through the eyes of her adult daughter – a common motif in books and movies – turns into a collision of “Mom (not) married.” That’s right – everyone is free to remove or leave brackets. Whether it came out or not. The constant search for the satellite each time ends with the title "The End of Wayne" (or another friend - friend). Here, the silent dolls in Lacey’s home theater receive more care and understanding than the real living people whom fate throws into this house. And who quietly disappear from home and from the lives of Janet and her adult daughter Lacey. Here, people tend to become dolls, turning into giant masks of unknown animals. And, speaking not on their own behalf, they try to find an explanation for their own through fictional fates. Time will pass, and we will go away forever, we will be forgotten, our faces, voices and how many we were, but our suffering will pass into joy for those who will live after us, happiness and peace will come on earth, and will be remembered with a kind word and bless those who live now. In fact, the whole film is a monologue of Olga from Chekhov’s “Three Sisters”, realized in the life of deep America at the turn of the 20-21 centuries.
For director Annie Baker, this film is the debut. For playwright Annie Baker, this is a natural continuation of Chekhov’s adaptation of Uncle Vani for the American stage. Absolutely Chekhov's method - the most important thing happens behind the external eventlessness - life passes in empty hopes, in puppet troubles, in high-flown monologues.
"My release depends on my willingness to see the truth beyond self-perception" - this is another mother's hobby brought to the house. A sectarian is not a sectarian, a director is not a director, a thinker is not a thinker, a manipulator is not a manipulator. Lying on Janet's lap, uttering all these pseudophilosophical thoughts, and then just vanished like everyone before him. What did Janet see? Is it true or another misconception? Only the truth was empty, boring and sad. This is a film epic "Liberation" for people living in a world of total freedom. There is no danger of starvation. Career growth for the master of acupuncture is impossible, and undesirable. All relatives are adults and healthy, there are no dangers, obligations are minimal. Freed from all the basic fetters, Janet was almost uninhabitable. There is only one permanent resident - the daughter of Lacey, who would like to forever remain a little daughter, but it does not happen. The rest are just short visitors. They came, they left. They have gone beyond self-perception, liberated themselves, and now they do not know how to free themselves from freedom, which invariably turns into emptiness.
In order to go dancing in a country club, you do not need to be able to dance. They don't dance here, they meet. That's the truth. Janet's all dancing. Lacey is among the spectators, watching the "liberated" mother. Turning in the American quadrille ladies and gentlemen, constantly changing couples. And none lasts long. “Music is so fun, so joyous, and it seems a little more, and we will know why we live, why we suffer.” If only I knew, if only I knew. It's been 123 years. The Chekhov text is more modern than ever.