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    ‘Janet Planet’ Review: A Sticky Summer Full of Small Dramas

    Annie Baker’s debut feature film is a tiny masterpiece — a perfect coming-of-age story for both a misfit tween and her mother.Kids are supposed to love summer, but I can’t be alone in remembering it as the most vexing season. It’s hot, and there are mosquitoes and spasms of allergic sneezes, and the predictable, sociable structure of the school year vanishes for what feels like an interminable stretch. When Lacy, the 11-year-old in the playwright Annie Baker’s brilliant “Janet Planet,” calls home from camp to tell her mother, Janet, that if she doesn’t come pick her up, she’ll kill herself — I got that, in all its hyperbolic provocation. Sometimes summer is just the worst.But being 11 is also the worst. “You know what’s funny?” Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) asks Janet (Julianne Nicholson) a few weeks later, when she’s been brought back to the home the two share in western Massachusetts: “Every moment of my life is hell.” Janet doesn’t want to laugh, and gently corrects her. But she’s also in the throes of her own turmoil, so she gets it. “I don’t think it will last, though,” Lacy continues, acknowledging with tween stoicism her spells of hell and happiness.Lacy’s life is not hell, no matter her solemn belief. Her mother has built a good life for the two of them, even if it’s invaded at times by friends who need help and boyfriends who Lacy knows are bad news. But every day is long and every occurrence is amplified when you’re Lacy’s age. The genius of “Janet Planet,” Baker’s debut as a feature writer-director, is how flawlessly it renders what it’s like to spend the summer being 11 at your home in the woods, when your mother is your whole world and you wish you could just have her to yourself. You can hear the buzzing bug zapper, feel the sunburn on your skin, scratch your knees on the freshly cut grass and sink into the hazy evening ennui.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.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    'Mare of Easttown' Takes Supporting Actor Awards for Limited Series

    “Mare of Easttown” was one of the buzziest limited series of the year, and it received 16 Emmy nominations, including for best limited or anthology series. Thus far Sunday night, the HBO crime drama has already claimed both supporting acting awards for a limited or anthology series or movie.Julianne Nicholson won best supporting actress for her heartbreaking role as Lori, the best friend of the main character, Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet, also nominated, for best actress). Nicholson delivered a heartfelt speech that referenced recent world events, including the Texas abortion ban and the U.S. military’s withdrawal from the 20-year war in Afghanistan.“I owe this to you,” Nicholson said, “and all the ladies out there in Philadelphia, in Kabul, in Texas or anywhere who are struggling sometimes, finding it hard to be happy sometimes, understanding that life can be a lot sometimes, but never stopping, never losing hope never giving up.”Evan Peters also won a supporting actor award, for his performance as Detective Colin Zabel. Both he and Nicholson were first-time nominees.“This is a dream come true for me tonight,” a visibly shocked Peters said.The series, which garnered praise for the way it nailed the look, feel, sound and salty attitude of the people of Delaware County, Pa., became appointment viewing last spring. Although the series was initially billed as a single-season affair, there has been talk of a Season 2 after the overwhelming response to the first.“I think if we could ever crack a story that was as emotional and surprising, then I think maybe there’s a conversation,” the creator, Brad Ingelsby, told Esquire last month. “I mean, listen, I love Mare. If we could ever give her a great season, I would certainly consider it. More