May/December

Released December 1, 2023

Written by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik

Directed by Todd Haynes

* No Spoilers *

I had no idea what May/December was about. I added it to my Netflix “list” like countless other movies waiting for a quiet night with some time to spare. Recommended by friends and also nominated for best original screenplay so I figured it would be worth checking out.

I’ll try to be as vague as I can about this because the experience is better if you learn the plot and even the premise as you go, but I can’t talk about the movie without at least going into that. The story is slowly unveiled as Elizabeth, played by Natalie Portman (Black Swan) interacts with the rest of the characters. She plays an actress researching for one of her roles, a biopic about Gracie, played by Julianne Moore (Still Alice). May/December is multiple layers of meta textual. In the story we are seeing Portman preparing to make a movie based on a Gracie, who is in turn based off a real person name Mary Kay Letournou. The movie is absolutely not a documentary and doesn’t play as one but structurally takes on some similar elements. It settles into the grey areas and reserves judgment when perhaps it shouldn’t.

Watching this without any prior knowledge led to an interesting experience of settling into it’s tone. There are parts that are strangely comedic and awkwardly so. The musical score is dramatic and intense, at times that on first viewing feel inappropriate but in hindsight did fit. Still there are harsh piano chords that punctuate the ending of scenes and felt oddly timed. Not a bad thing because it created the discomfort I think the movie was going for. Regardless an interesting choice that may not have landed for me as it felt jarring, goofy, and at times broke my immersion in the story.

One of the biggest highlights of this movie was the cinematography. Shot with a textured and grainy aesthetic and there is a captivating muted glow in the outdoors scenes. Indoor shots used the rooms architecture to frame things with blocks of solid colour crushing characters into the corner. It was claustrophobic and used the negative space to push subjects to the outer edge of a frame.

The use of reflections and mirrors is present throughout the movie as well. Appropriate given Portman’s character is trying to mirror the subject she wants to play. There is a scene where Gracie is applying makeup to Elizabeth. The pair are facing each other with the camera looking at them from the perspective of the bathroom mirror. They slowly inch towards each other and the camera ever so slightly creeps in tighter. It’s an intimate moment with an underlying palpable tension.

There is another jaw dropping mirror shot. The events are relatively mundane but the way they set up the reflections created multiple views of Moore’s character, literally and figuratively. It even took me a few minutes to understand the perspective because the camera was looking directly at a mirror, but somehow was hidden from our view. They must have either cleverly hid it or removed it from the shot in editing. I am still baffled with how they did it and it was definitely the most impressive shot in the movie.

The acting is great and makes this worth the watch alone. I know not everyone is a fan of Natalie Portman’s hushed whispery voice but in this it absolutely works. I never realized how much she resembles Julianne Moore but maybe Portman just did such a good job of having her character observe and mimics Gracie, that I felt they were similar. Method acting taken to another level. Later in the film Portman delivers a monologue, taken directly from a letter Gracie wrote, which summarizes her character. It’s the first moment where we see Elizabeth truly understand and become Gracie in one long continuous shot.

Julianne Moore is amazing as Gracie. Her character has a distinctive manner of speaking, a lisp paired with an off putting and sinister cadence. She simultaneously embodies unhinged and innocent, it’s pitiful and condemnable at the same time because of how well Moore portrays this quiet edge. Her performance is a portrait of an unstable and broken person who is either disturbingly self-aware, in denial, or actually oblivious. Honestly, it’s probably all of the above and that certainty proves how brilliant her performance was.

Lastly I have to praise Charles Melton (Riverdale) who plays Joe. Despite his masculine appearance and square jaw he is docile and meek. Like a child who’s emotional and mental grown was very clearly paused. He is broken and ignorant to what is going on around him. Melton is 33 years old and is plays a character of a similar age, but he at times perfectly embodies the energy of an awkward pubescent teenager. It makes for his portrayal of the unconventional and strange relationship with Joe’s kids even more tragic. A man-child, seeing his children grow up, when he never really had the opportunity to do so himself.

The film opens with a tight macro shot of a monarch butterfly, appropriately establishing several themes like, transformation, maturity, and ultimately being set free. They continue to play a background role in the film, and their metamorphosis matches in time with several key events in the movie. The imagery of the monarch comes full circle and, though not exactly subtle, was a wonderful way to mirror the development of many of the characters. When the butterflies finally hatch, characters have undergone similarly symbolic shifts. The kids are graduating, Elizabeth has fully become Gracie, and Charles Melton’s character is set free. Whether you appreciate subtlety or don’t mind having themes spoon fed to you, May/December uses this imagery to wonderfully further it’s overall commentary and I appreciated how it wrapped the entire package together in a neat, but a little bit off putting chrysalis.

7.5/10 - An unexpected, strange, but well crafted story that maybe didn’t need to be told. On it’s face the plot feels like it could be a cheap TV movie but the acting, cinematography, and creative story structure, elevate this to something greater than what it should be. Portman, Moore, and Melton all deserve the utmost praise for their performances and I feel their work alone makes May/December worth a watch.

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