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Award Season is the time of year when the messiest, most challenging characters come out to play—which, admittedly, can make it an exhausting experience for those of us who are immersed in the drama day after day. And in May December, the latest from Carol director Todd Haynes, a couple of those prickly characters face off.
May December travels to Savannah with Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), an actress who’s researching a role in an upcoming indie film about a romance that made headlines more than 20 years ago. Gracie (Julianne Moore) was a 36-year-old wife and mother when she met Joe (Charles Melton) while working at a pet shop—when he was just out of seventh grade. Despite the scandal, they’re still together—a married couple with three grown kids. But as Elizabeth gets to know the family—and those who know their story—she shakes up their seemingly stable relationship.
From the moment that Elizabeth arrives at the couple’s home, where she’s greeted by an unpleasant package—which Gracie shrugs off as probably just sent by someone who wasn’t invited to one of their barbeques—these characters find themselves in an awkward but calculated kind of dance. Elizabeth immerses herself in her research, speaking with anyone who knows the couple and their story and visiting the place where their story began. Gracie responds with the occasional jabs that suggest that she isn’t just the delicate, almost childlike woman that she seems to be. And caught in the middle is a sweet, naïve man who seems completely lost in this grown-up world.
The story plays out slowly, often told in subtleties, with these complex characters gradually revealing more of their layers, their motives, and their strategies. But while the characters are certainly skillfully portrayed, it all feels a little too familiar—the story of smart women playing a careful game of chess, while those around them simply play along, blind to the manipulation and control. These aren’t likable characters. From the beginning, Elizabeth is shown lying to end a phone call with her fiancé, and Gracie shows no remorse for—or even awareness or—her actions. And despite the well-written tension and the noteworthy performances, it feels like just another story about how women are never as sweet and innocent as they seem.
May December takes a story from the tabloids, brings in a strong cast, and turns it all into a film that’s haunting and layered. But while it’s all done well, nothing here feels especially new or compelling.
Connect with this headline-making couple when May December arrives in theaters on November 17, 2023—or find it on Netflix starting on December 1, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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