Decades after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past. A film by Todd Haynes, starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton.
MAY DECEMBER
Todd Haynes
(2023)
Actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) arrives at the Gandler Oak House in Savannah, Georgia, where she will be staying during her research for her her upcoming indie film role. She is here to meet Gracie’s family, and study the woman who in 1992 ignited a nationwide tabloid frenzy when her affair with her son’s schoolmate became public fodder. Elizabeth is determined to inhabit Gracie, to breathe life into the woman who dared to love unconventionally.
May-December is used to describe a romantic relationship in which one person is significantly younger than the other. The age of the younger person is likened to May, which marks the beginning of spring, while the age of the older person is likened to December, which comes late in the year and marks the start of winter.
The couple, 59-year-old woman Gracie Atherton (Julianne Moore) and 36-year-old husband Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), initially buzz with optimism. This upcoming indie film feels like a chance to finally rewrite the tabloid headlines that once hounded their love story. Elizabeth devours their stories with genuine curiosity, eager to understand how their love bloomed and blossomed despite the many obstacles they’ve overcome to build a loving family, including raising three children: Honor (Piper Curda), off at college, and twins Charlie (Gabriel Chung) and Mary (Elizabeth Yu), about to graduate high school.
Elizabeth dives deeper, the shine of the love story fading as she unearths a kaleidoscope of complexities. We see the flicker of pain in Gracie’s ex-husband Tom Atherton (D.W. Moffett), a man who never quite recovered from the betrayal. Her interviews crack open Gracie’s life like a weathered geode, revealing hidden layers far from the gleaming surface. Gracie’s musician son Georgie (Cory Michael Smith), paints a picture of a mother whose New York Times scandal shattered his world. Detective Morris Sperber (Lawrence Arancio) whispers of a community not as supportive as it appears. Gracie’s beloved bakery is kept afloat not by bustling crowds but by the quiet kindness of a loyal few.
The scriptwriter Samy Burch based the screenplay on the true tale of Mary Kay Letournea, a teacher who admitted to two charges of felony second-degree child rape in 1997. Mary started having sexual encounters with the boy named Vili Fualaau, when he was twelve years old. From the years 1998 to 2004, she spent time behind bars. Letourneau and Fualaau tied the knot in May 2005, and they remained married for 14 years, until their separation in 2019.
Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore lock horns in a fantastic dance, their performances echoing the haunting melody that swirls around them like a dark carousel. Michel Legrand’s score, adapted by Marcelo Zarvos, weaves through the scenes, amplifying the tension and the underlying darkness. Portman initially captivates as an actress drawn to the depths of her subject. But as the layers peel back, her true motives begin to shimmer with a sinister glint. Moore stands resolute, unflinching in her control and unapologetic. We can’t quite discern the reality behind her facade – is it truth or a carefully crafted illusion?
One memorable scene involves Charles Melton, whose character “Joe” stays on one note for the majority of the film. When he is with his teenage son Charlie, he breaks down in tears, revealing a depth of frustration and confusion that has been bottled up for years. In this unexpected moment, Melton’s performance is electrifying.
Just when Elizabeth thinks she knows the secrets, and everything there is about Gracie, the film confounds us with another twist: Gracie’s got another ace up her sleeve.
MAY DECEMBER was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or and premiered at Festival de Cannes on 20 May 2023. Netflix acquired North American distribution rights and released the film in select theaters in the United States on 17 November, before streaming on Netflix in the U.S. and Canada on 1 December. The film was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 17 November, by Sky Cinema, and is scheduled for streaming on 8 December.
