Odd. Quirky. Deliberately stilted at times. Colourfully shot with interesting camera angles. Filled with eccentric characters. Could be set in a couple of different decades. An interesting look at mental health. Asks the question “Are there still telemarketers?” All this adds up to the film The Planters by directors Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder. A film where they did everything except play the male roles.
Though she works as a telemarketer selling (or not selling, in her case) air conditioning units, where Martha Plant’s (Alexandra Kotcheff – Pay it Forward, The Shooter) heart is located is in the tins of treasure she random “plants” in holes she digs in the ground. Hers is a very isolated life as her adoptive parents have both died and she seems to not socialize at all. So when a strange woman locked in a helmet comes into Martha’s world everything changes.
Martha finds out Sadie (Hannah Leder – from television’s The Morning Show) has just been released from a mental health facility. Not because she is better, but because they have had to reduce their size. So she takes her in as Sadie seems to have nowhere else to go.
It soon becomes apparent that Sadie has multiple personalities though none seem too aggressive. Plus she shows Martha how to be a more successful salesperson. Things go well…initially.
Kinda like Seinfeld, this is a film about nothing or at least ordinary things. Nothing really happens, yet things do, but at a very odd and languid pace. As strange as it is you do find yourself engaged in what these characters are doing. Especially with the multiple personality Sadie.
A short film (78 minutes) that will leave you with a smile on your face and enchanted by its quirky ways.