May December
‘My love, I think about you all the time.‘
The premise behind May December is one that feels so obvious and yet is rarely ever depicted, what happens after the headlines? When you’ve been exposed, your life laid bare in the media, your personal life and choices reduced to scandal other people consume over their breakfast – what comes next?
Loosely inspired by a true story, that of Mary Kay Letourneau, we meet Gracie (Julianne Moore) twenty years after she was imprisoned for her love affair to her now-husband Joe (Charles Melton). That’s how she views it. In actuality, she was then a married woman in her 30s and he was 13 years old. An actress, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), has come to visit them as she’s going to play Gracie in an adaptation of her life and she wants to research them. Forced to revisit their past, uncomfortable and potentially catastrophic tensions form between the trio.
This is a Todd Haynes joint through-and-through. It’s scandalous, precise and oft-uncomfortable – with Samy Burch‘s script is packed full of biting one liners and social critique that the characters seem blithely unaware of.
Timely in its arrival – as we continue, on a societal level, to do some much needed scrutiny of relationship dynamics of our recent and not-so-recent past. Gracie is oblivious to her role, both then and now, as predator; adamant that she was the seduced and not the seducer, she refuses to accept any blame or acknowledge any harm she caused. This is reinforced by a small but impactful supporting turn by Cory Michael Smith, who plays her son from her first marriage, who is the exact same age of her husband in her second marriage. He is now an agent of chaos, traumatised by his mother’s actions, almost frozen-in-time in behaviour and lifestyle choices. A sequence in the film, in a restaurant where both of Gracie’s family collide it wincingly delicious to watch.
That’s also the perfect way to describe Moore’s incredible performance here. Her Gracie is, quite rightly, irredeemable and Moore fully embraces this. She’s self-obsessed, unable to care about others and unaccepting of any other narratives but her own. Her frenemy dynamic with Portman’s invading actress is such a joy to watch play out, both actress at their height of their respective powers. It’s like something out of a nature documentary, they eye each other warily, uncertain of the threat that awaits and ready to fight when the first blow lands.
Melton is an unexpected wonder as Joe. It’s a difficult role which he plays with careful aplomb. His Joe was forced to grow up far too long, manipulated by someone older – yet, decades on, still viewing it as love instead of abuse – he is incredibly lost. His interactions with his children, all three now-older than he was when he first met their mother, are as subtle as they are achingly profound.
May December is lightly told yet packed full of punch; intimately profound, bitterly funny and bitingly sad. An essential watch. [4.5/5 stars]
May December will be in UK cinemas on 17 November and Sky Cinema from 8 December 26.
Charlotte Sometimes 