May December is another essential addition to Todd Haynes’ impressive filmography. Haynes is known for his early transgressive work which explores the themes of sexuality and identity in a subversive narrative structure that embodies his influence as one of the most significant figures in New Queer Cinema. May December premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20. The film was out in select theatres on November 17 in the United States.
Todd Haynes told The Hollywood Reporter: “It was just written with such a gripping restraint and intelligence and perceptiveness about the place and people. It kept you in a state of constant anticipation and moral uncertainty in ways that I just found to be so exciting. This story is about two women, and the second character was just an unbelievably complex, juicy, and ambiguous character who was scripted as someone who was about 60 years old. I immediately had an idea about who that might be…”
Plot and Cast of May December
May December is led by two Academy Award-winning actresses, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Portman, who brought Samy Burch’s script to Haynes in the first place, told Vanity Fair: “I read it and was like, I’d love to do this, but only if it were Todd making it because this needs a vision to match the subtlety and nuance of the script.” Portman plays Elizabeth Berry and Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo. Another significant character is Gracie’s partner, Joe Yoo, played by Charles Melton. The cast includes Cory Michael Smith, D. W. Moffett, Piper Curda, Cory Michael Smith, Drew Scheid, Elizabeth Yu, Gabriel Chung, and Lawrence Arancio in various roles.
May December focuses on an actress, Elizabeth Berry, who travels to Georgia to meet a couple. Their scandalous age-gap had been sensationalized through tabloids, to do research for a movie based on their life. It leads to a disturbing story told humorously. The film delves deeper into the romance to reveal the darkest secrets. It is very loosely based on the story of American school teacher and sex offender, Mary Kay Letourneau, and her romantic relationship with her student, Vili Fualaau. Vili was only 12 years old when their inappropriate relationship began. Despite imprisonment, their romance didn’t die down as Letourneau gave birth to Fualaau’s kids while in prison.
May December will be available to stream on Netflix on December 1.
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