Official movie synopsis: Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.Let me start by tipping my hand: This psychological drama is going to rack up a LOT of nominations come awards season! While technically it's a work of fiction, director Todd Haynes integrates from the real life scandal from the eighties of a teacher having an affair with her 13 year old student, and becoming pregnant with his child. She was subsequently arrested and found guilty for having sex with a minor, and did time in jail, where she gave birth to their child. The title of the film comes from a term of an older/younger pairing of a couple, in this case, one that constitutes a crime due to the December being underage.This link here covers a bit of the movie, but also the history the movie is based on.: https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a46016315/may-december-true-story-mary-kay-letourneau/
Now showing on Netflix, May/December fictional time setting is about a decade later, with Gracie (Julianne Moore) and an adult Joe (Charles Melton) having settled into post scandal/post prison life in a coastal Savannah, GA town with their children and extended family and friends. For most, time has made the scandal a thing of the past, but there are occasional references that not everyone has forgotten, such as nasty letters and packages occasionally showing up at their (to me!) very large lake-side home. Apparently, Hollywood also has not forgotten, and wants to do another movie on the couple and they have chosen (fictional) famous actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who, with Gracie's approval, goes to the small South Carolina town to do research and get to know the character she will be playing in the forthcoming movie. Nuance is the word of the day for me with me about this movie. There is no outright motive, or crime to solve or a "gotcha" moment; this was not Haynes intent. Instead, May/December is a character story, with both Moore and Portman characters each sizing the other up as to who they really are. Gracie cheerfully plays along with Elizabeth, telling how her life is now as a mother and wife, her past history before she met Joe, but she artfully deflects when it comes down to the details of the WHY she decided to risk it all about why she was drawn to Joe. Gracie may be showing the world that she is happy homemaker and now upstanding citizen, but this cat has claws that will strike if her perfect bubble world is poked at. Elizabeth does her best to be neutral in partaking of any judgement of Gracie and her new simple life, but as the film progresses, and Elizabeth gets to know her subject, she finds herself intrigued and even mesmerized at how Gracie lives her life, despite the circumstances of Gracie's past that have formulated the life Gracie navigates today. It is here that I use that word nuance again, because Portman embraces the challenge she has been given to show the the viewer how reflective Elizabeth becomes as she gets to know Gracie and Joe, digging deep as an actress into those "moral grey areas". What comes next is too twisty to spoil, but suffice to say, when one goes digging about someone's life, one may find more than they even expected to find about themselves.
While Moore and Portman will definitely get their award nominations, the most nuanced and heartbreaking performance is given by Melton(EDIT: they all got shut out at the Oscars noms!) His quiet, kind, slightly aloof Joe is the innocent man-child "roadkill" in this drama, as Joe starts to dig deeper into deeply buried questions he has had about his relationship with Gracie, and thru his time with Elizabeth, some of those suppressed feelings start to swell up, slowly cresting like a wave till he sees his own reflection of what was and what is about his life, starting with how his and Gracie's initial relationship came to be and where it is now. I will be rooting hard both for Melton to get those award nominations and possible wins! The best subliminal performance I've seen in a while! Question: What is up with the monarch butterflies? Metaphor? Grades! Overall: A (almost an A+, but the ending was a bit meh for me.) Acting: A+ Directing: A Writing: A Set Design: B Cinematography: B+ Here is the trailer of the film to give you a taste!
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