Annie Baker doesn't seem to grasp the distinction between minimalism and emptiness in her debut feature as writer-director. To put it plainly, the film is tedious, pretentious, rambling, unfocused, and a significant waste of time. It’s so unengaging that it makes Kelly Reichardt’s films appear remarkably interesting by comparison. The story unfolds in 1991 within an arts community located in rural western Massachusetts, centered on middle-aged acupuncturist Janet (Julianne Nicholson) as she attempts to make sense of what appears to be a wandering existence. Throughout the narrative, it consistently follows this same course, and that approach seems to be affecting Janet’s equally confused, constantly brooding, 8-year-old daughter, Lacy (newcomer Zoe Ziegler). Along the way, they encounter various obscure and unimportant interactions with other characters who seem intrigued by Janet (though for what reason is unclear), all of whom (Will Patton, Sophie Okonedo, Elias Koteas) are as uninteresting as she is. What’s the purpose of it all? It's hard to say – and not long into the film, it becomes difficult to care. The praise this tedious and tiring piece of filmmaking has received is a complete puzzle, considering its pervasive ordinariness and the flat performances from actors who sound like they’ve been given sodium pentothal. Nicholson, in particular, seems so detached that she could have just as easily delivered her lines without much effort (despite claims that this is the career-defining role she's supposedly waited for – instead, it would be better to see her in “August: Osage County” (2013)). Furthermore, the film’s sound quality is among the worst I’ve experienced in a recent production—so poor that I had trouble hearing what was being said (and I was sitting near the front of the theater). The movie's weak attempts to weave in some kind of subtle, complex spiritual theme also fall flat, feeling almost like an afterthought. If you're thinking about seeing this, don’t do it when you’re already tired—you might easily drift off shortly after the opening credits appear, which would be a perfectly reasonable response.

Source on TMDB