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In Theaters Now
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
Summary After their relationship ignited a tabloid saga two decades ago, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) now lead a seemingly perfect suburban life. Their domestic bliss is disrupted when Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a famous television actress, arrives in their tight-knit community to research her upcoming role as Gracie. As El...
Directed By: Todd Haynes
Written By: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
In Theaters Now
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
- 2023
- R
- 1 h 57 m
May December
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary After their relationship ignited a tabloid saga two decades ago, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) now lead a seemingly perfect suburban life. Their domestic bliss is disrupted when Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a famous television actress, arrives in their tight-knit community to research her upcoming role as Gracie. As El...
Directed By: Todd Haynes
Written By: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 52 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
10% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 52 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
47 Reviews
47 Reviews
10% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
May December is not for people who aren’t willing to engage in works about awful people. The film is daring in its subject matter and its characters, and the actors bring just as much of a deft, disagreeable touch. It is a deeply messed up movie, and it’s all the better for it.
May December begins grotesquely . . . It ends delicately, as a portrait of fragile, shattered human beings and the mundane entertainment they inspire.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 58 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
22% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
12% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 58 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
22% Mixed
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
12% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Forget the awards buzz, just watch this because it’s an incredibly entertaining film.
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Less a movie about a scandal than a movie about a movie about a scandal, it seeks to interrogate and even subvert its own promise of ripped-from-the-tabloids titillation, even as it challenges the predilections of an audience that might seek out such a movie.
Scandalous fun and camp are, you imagine, relatively easy with performers like this. But to give it a soul, too? It makes it monumental.
Surface-level funny but with a well of deeper meaning brewing, May December is not just a skilful satire of suburban propriety; it’s a unique and uncanny affair about the nature of performance itself.
Moore captivates as a woman who is either emotionally stunted and unaware or viciously in control of the whole chess board. Director Todd Haynes never cracks to let you know just which one she is. It’s possibly purposeful, but a lack of conclusion left me unsatisfied at the end of an otherwise deliciously disquieting movie.
At times, May December feels like an interrogation of the elusive nature of truth.
A fascinating and haunting study of empathy (or lack thereof), and forms of manipulation. The performances are incredible, and the surprising use of the soundtrack elevate the movie, and displace then replace our attention, helping the movie's rhythm. It's witty, sharp, at times funny, and always thought-provoking.
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When Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman share the screen, the film shines, but when it doesn't, as the viewer, you will have no problem understanding the story, but it doesn't feel like it matters with more enough dramatic weight, because even with so much to explore and delve into considering the nature of the plot and the themes within it, I have to say that much of the treatment given by Todd Haynes is grossly superficial. I mean, he never loses his way, but much of his treatment turns out to be pretty shallow. That was both surprising and unfortunate.
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Twenty-four years ago, a teacher (Julianne Moore) had a relationship with a 13 year-old boy (played by Charles Melton as an adult). Despite the tabloid horrors, they're still together with several kids. Natalie Portman plays a TV actor who's doing research for the role, so she travels to Savannah to meet them. Director Todd Haynes has created an uncomfortable mix of situations that examine dysfunctional relationships and set up unfulfilled expectations. The scenes sometime approach depth, but often stop before any revelations. The melodramatic soundtrack (an adaptation of Michel Legrand's music for The Go-Between) signals dramatic portent, sometimes as comically absurd punctuation. The interesting performances and shift in tones keeps the film interesting, but ultimately it leaves lots of open-ended moments.
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Let's say, this movie is not my type. Because it was considerably hard to finish the movie. Acting, of course, is undeniably good, but the story is just dull. The idea is ethically conflicting, but the process... Boring.
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Another movie made by persons whose only reality is other movies and what's on TV. Todd Haynes, years ago, exhausted his semiotics degree on "Safe", and Bunuel had already done that movie with far more wit, mystery and indirection in the 1960s.
Literary imagination slunk out of the building, carrying an Aeropress and a cardboard box.....
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Production Company
Gloria Sanchez Productions,
Killer Films,
MountainA,
Project Infinity,
Taylor & Dodge
Release Date Nov 17, 2023
Duration 1 h 57 m
Rating R
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 4 Nominations
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
• 8 Nominations
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
• 7 Nominations
