May December

''May December'' is a 2023 American dark comedy film directed by Todd Haynes from a screenplay by Samy Burch, based on a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik. Loosely inspired by Mary Kay Letourneau, it stars Natalie Portman as an actress who travels to Savannah, Georgia, to meet and study the life of the controversial woman ( Julianne Moore) she is set to play in a film—the woman being infamous for her 23-year-long relationship with her husband (Charles Melton), which began when he was 13 years old.

The film was announced in June 2021, with Portman and Moore joining the cast. Filming took place in mid-2022 in Savannah. It premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023, where Netflix acquired the North American distribution rights.

''May December'' was released in select theaters in the United States on November 17, 2023, before streaming on Netflix on December 1. It received critical acclaim and various accolades, including nominations for four Golden Globe Awards, and was named one of the top 10 films of 2023 by the American Film Institute.

Plot

In 2015, actress Elizabeth Berry arrives in Savannah, Georgia, to research her upcoming role in an indie film. Elizabeth will be playing 59-year-old Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who, in 1992, was caught having sex with 13-year-old Joe Yoo, a schoolmate of her son Georgie, at the pet store where both worked. During a prison sentence, Gracie gave birth to Joe's child. 23 years later, Gracie and Joe are married with three children: Honor, who is at college, and twins Charlie and Mary, who are about to graduate from high school.

Elizabeth interviews Gracie and Joe about their relationship and assures them that she intends to portray their story honestly. Visiting the pet store where the couple met and worked, Elizabeth sees the stock room where Gracie and Joe were caught having sex and reenacts the scene alone. She also speaks with Tom, Gracie's first husband, her defense lawyer, and her son Georgie, a musician. They portray Gracie in varying ways, depicting her as naïve and passive, while also showing how destructive her actions were. Elizabeth attends more family events leading up to the twins' high school graduation.

Joe engages in a private text conversation with a friend from a Facebook group dedicated to his hobby of rearing monarch butterflies. At one point, Joe proposes they take a vacation together, but she rebuffs him by reminding him that he is married. When visiting his father, Joe ponder what life will be like with Gracie once all their children have left for college.

Elizabeth participates in a Q&A at a drama class at the twins' high school and discusses the intimacy actors and crew members feel when shooting a sex scene. When Elizabeth says she enjoys playing morally ambiguous characters, Mary is visibly offended. Charlie shares a cannabis joint with Joe, who reveals to his son he has never tried cannabis before. High, Joe has a breakdown and weeps in Charlie's arms.

Honor returns home from college and the family, accompanied by Elizabeth, go out to dinner to celebrate the twins' graduation. At the restaurant, they have an awkward encounter with Tom, Georgie, and the rest of Elizabeth's old family. Georgie speaks to Elizabeth in private and proposes that she get him a job as a music supervisor on the film in exchange for details about Gracie's life; he reveals that he read Gracie's diary and discovered her older brothers sexually abused her. Georgie also warns that if not given the job, he will cause a stir with the press when the film is released. Elizabeth says she'll consider it before getting a ride home from Joe.

Elizabeth invites Joe to her accommodation, where he gives her a letter Gracie wrote him early in their relationship. The two have sex, and Elizabeth tells Joe that he still has time to start a new life without Gracie. However, Joe leaves once Elizabeth refers to his experiences as a "story." Joe tearfully confronts Gracie about the start of their relationship, wondering whether he was "too young." Gracie insists he seduced her and that he was always in control. Elizabeth reads the letter Joe gave her as a monologue to practice her performance as Gracie.

The morning of graduation, one of Joe's butterflies emerges from its chrysalis. Later, the whole family watches Charlie and Mary graduate while Joe weeps alone at the edge of the crowd. As Elizabeth prepares to leave, Gracie tells her that Georgie fabricated the story of abuse by her brothers and that she and Georgie have a healthy relationship.

On the set of the film, Elizabeth films multiple takes of a scene depicting Gracie grooming Joe. While the director is satisfied, she asks to film another take, insisting that the scene is "getting more real."

Cast

Production

Screenwriter Samy Burch outlined the script with her husband, Alex Mechanik, and completed the screenplay on Memorial Day, 2019. Producer Jessica Elbaum came onboard after reading the screenplay. In June 2021, it was announced that Portman and Moore were cast in the film. Portman recruited Todd Haynes to direct. In September 2022, Melton joined the cast. In January 2023, it was reported that Piper Curda, Elizabeth Yu, and Gabriel Chung had joined the cast.

Principal photography took place in Savannah, Georgia, and wrapped after 23 days in November 2022. Edward Lachman was initially going to serve as cinematographer but was replaced by Christopher Blauvelt due to Lachman's hip injury. The script, which is set in Savannah, was originally set in Camden, Maine.

Haynes said the film is partly inspired by the Ingmar Bergman films '' Persona'' (1966) and '' Winter Light'' (1963).

Music

Marcelo Zarvos's score for the film is an adaptation and reorchestration of Michel Legrand's music for ''The Go-Between''. Haynes originally played Legrand's score on set and during editing for inspiration until eventually the team "ended up embracing so many aspects of the original score that Marcelo adapted and added original music to it and then re-orchestrated it." Legrand was credited along with Zarvos.

Release

In February 2023, Sky Cinema acquired the UK distribution rights. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on May 20, 2023. In May 2023, Netflix acquired the North American distribution rights at the Marché du Film for $11 million. The film also screened as the "Opening Night Film" at the 2023 New York Film Festival on September 29.

The film was released in select U.S. theaters on November 17, 2023, before streaming on Netflix in the U.S. and Canada on December 1. It was released by Sky Cinema in the United Kingdom on December 8.

Reception

Critical response

''May December'' received critical acclaim.

In his review following its Cannes premiere, Peter Debruge of '' Variety'' called ''May December'' an "endlessly fascinating movie" and added, "As layered and infinitely open-to-interpretation as any of aynes'sfilms, it's also the most generous and direct €¦The potential for passion, transformation and subversion hangs heavy in the air". David Ehrlich of IndieWire called the film "a heartbreakingly sincere piece of high camp that teases real human drama from the stuff of tabloid sensationalism", and praised Melton's "a well-modulated and eventually rather moving performance" and Moore's "predictably sensational, soft-hard performance". '' The Guardian'' Peter Bradshaw found the film "amusing and elegant €¦delivered with a cool, shrewd precision by Todd Haynes" and described Portman and Moore's performances as containing "a potent frenmity".

Bilge Ebiri of '' Vulture'' called ''May December'' "very funny and light on its feet, but also a deeply uncomfortable movie", writing that Haynes "uses the trappings of camp to draw attention to the disconnect between what's happening onscreen and our response to it", and concluding: "It feels at times like the director himself slooking for the right tone with which to tell this story. He doesn’t know exactly how to feel about all this. So he feels all the things, and makes sure we do, too."

'' Rolling Stone''s CT Jones praised Melton's performance, noting his skill and physicality in the role. "It's an inscrutable well of interpersonal grievances, power imbalances, and history, a perfect breeding ground for sharp work from screen icons Portman and Moore, the latter in her fifth film with Haynes," they wrote. "But while the two are competing to see how much cringe and humor one can conceivably fit into a movie about sexual assault and grooming, there’s Melton off to the side, quietly stealing the show."

Accolades

''May December'' was ranked tenth in ''Sight and Sounds list of the 50 best films of 2023, out of 363 films nominated by 106 British and international participants.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Todd Haynes

2023 films
2023 independent films
2023 romantic drama films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
American films based on actual events
American independent films
American romantic drama films
English-language Netflix original films
Films about actors
Films about child sexual abuse
Films directed by Todd Haynes
Films produced by Christine Vachon
Films produced by Natalie Portman
Films produced by Will Ferrell
Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos
Films set in 2015
Films set in Savannah, Georgia
Films shot in Savannah, Georgia
Gloria Sanchez Productions films
Killer Films films
Romantic drama films based on actual events