May December Brings Out the Best of Its Director and Actors

Netflix

4.5/5 stars

We frequently hear stories about the lengths certain actors will go to embody a role, either through extreme body transformations or extensive research. But what happens when this meticulous method is used for a true story? How will the people affected feel when their lives are used as fodder for a job? This is the central question that director Todd Haynes (Carol, I'm Not There) asks in May December, one of the best films of recent memory and a new high point for both Haynes and the actors involved.

Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is an actress spending a few weeks living with Gracie (Julianne Moore) and her husband Joe (Charles Melton) to prepare for a role in a new film about the couple. Elizabeth will be playing Gracie during a time when she had an affair with Joe over 20 years ago. This made national headlines at the time because the "affair" happened when Gracie was 36 and Joe was 13.

The first half of the film is shot in Haynes' usual campy, soap opera style until the other shoe drops and we see the darkness of Gracie's character. Elizabeth's research delves into this darkness at the expense of poor Joe who must relive his childhood trauma as an adult. Melton does an amazing job playing a man who feels simultaneously 13 and 60 years old, and his pain says much about the blasé way the modern world still often treats sexual abuse and grooming (the film was clearly inspired by the very sad story of Vili Fualaau). Haynes brilliantly lures us in with suburban bliss and classic Hollywood gloss, only to reveal to us that we were watching a horror film this whole time. May December is currently available on Netflix.

Directed by Todd Haynes // Written by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik // Starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, Chris Tenzis, Andrea Frankle, Gabriel Chung, Mikenzie Taylor, Elizabeth Yu, Piper Curda, Cory Michael Smith, D.W. Moffett, and Kelvin Han Yee // 117 minutes // Rated 'R'