Written by: Samy Burch
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, Cory Michael Smith, Elizabeth Yu
Rating: [4.5/5]
Getting into the right headspace in taking on a role looks different for all actors. Some can just show up prepared after reading the script, while others have famously felt the need to dive deep into a character study, which could involve spending time with the person they’re emulating. May December looks how far an actor can go in trying to dig into a character and where it borders on exploitation, especially when it centers such a controversial story to begin with.
Set to star in an upcoming film, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) visits Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) Yoo, who serve as the inspiration for the project. Set to portray Gracie in the case of a woman who engaged in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy and are now married, Elizabeth seeks to get in the proper mindset for this role.
Consistent discomfort ultimately depicts what we experience in May December, a film all about exploitation as we navigate Elizabeth’s true intentions as she spends time with the tragedy she must portray in her upcoming film. A tragedy we can all see from the outside but appears far from asking Gracie and Joe about their particular circumstance. Every scene has this strangeness and an air of fakeness leading one to question the motivations of all involved and trying to decipher it all serves as the great fun of this film.
Utilizing the word “fun” regarding May December feels a bit inappropriate given the central issue that initiated this whole situation was the circumstance of Gracie engaging in this relationship with Joe when he was thirteen and getting pregnant from it. A disgusting act by her of rape considering a 13-year-old cannot consent to a sexual relationship with an adult but through it all she has built her little family with Joe with their kids and despite the way others feel about them, they have constructed themselves a content familial unit from the outside. The aforementioned fun comes from the masks these characters each wear and how they view themselves as opposed to the reality lying in the substance of their character. At the very least Elizabeth enters the story as an actor, someone who gets paid to play pretend, but Gracie and Joe are a completely different story. The film also has a bit of a campy tone to it at times where emotions get heightened to a somewhat comedic degree either through the acting or the score. The hot dog scene as Gracie opens the fridge comes to mind.
As we navigate Elizabeth’s research for this role, it asks the larger question of what lines exist in the effort of adapting a real life story for the purposes of entertainment. Elizabeth continues to poke and prod with questions where she wants to get into the mindset of a woman who would engage in such a relationship with a 13-year-old boy and it only gets stranger where her veering into method acting has her almost get off on this experience. Additionally, when looking at this as a broader concept, the film pokes at itself as it serves as its own fictional adaptation of the real situation that tragically happened as well. Following the release, much has surfaced about the individual who inspired the character Joe felt about the use of his story in this film and what minimal say he had in its production. A valid question and one that warrants its own conversation outside the scope of this review.
Manipulation occurs wildly throughout this feature, and Elizabeth and Gracie continually display their mastery of it. The sly words they share with each other get delivered laced in passive aggression as they try to grab the upper hand from each other constantly. However, Joe remains the victim of this entire circumstance going back to his teenage years, constantly dealing with the aftermath, and now having to relive it all through Elizabeth asking questions. This presents the opportunity for Charles Melton to absolutely devour this role and give such a tragically nuanced and layered performance. What Melton manages to do both physically and emotionally through this character demonstrates the man’s incredible talent and he mightily impressed here. He gets tasked with portraying a man who never got the opportunity to grow up emotionally in the proper way. Gracie’s rape of him got her pregnant and he got thrust into adulthood and has sat in this static state for so long. Melton somehow displays this dichotomy between having the body of a man but the slight demeanor of a child so shockingly well. It demonstrates that even in a film where he stands in as a relative newcomer in the film world and needs to act opposite of Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman that he can out act them says so much about what he accomplishes here. That’s not to say Portman and Moore turned in subpar work here when the opposite is true. Both of them have so much fun with Samy Burch’s screenplay and play off each other so well and contribute to the tone Todd Haynes seeks to capture here.
Usually finding myself hot and cold on Todd Haynes and his films where he either loses me or I completely adore it, May December firmly sits in the latter. A fascinating battle of words and manipulation with three characters that each manage this situation quite differently. The film relishes its messiness while also displaying a heartbreaking journey for Joe. The scene alone where Elizabeth explains to him what adults do really drives home the entire point of this journey for this man who never got to finish childhood. So brilliantly crafted from beginning to end and one I will not forget how it builds these conflicting emotions all throughout.
Films with Josh 
