Movies like May December are one of the main reasons I fell in love with films. It is through this medium we can see and almost inspect different, uncomfortable topics with some distance whilst clearly seeing how damaging it can be for the people involved. And how that damage that pain can go months or even years without being felt until something happens and reminds you that what you went through isn’t “normal” or “fine”.

I rarely do this, but I need to include a plot summary, as I don’t think this movie is talked about enough and given its subject matter, the rest of my review would be as clear as mud if I didn’t, so:

Middle aged Gracie lives a happy, well settled life with her husband. Some years ago she was involved in an unsavory scandal but for her it is all in the past. Movie actress Elizabeth is on a visit to this home and she is on a mission. This visit is a part of her preparation to play the role of Gracie in a movie being made. As she goes about talking to the family members Gracie wonders whether Elizabeth will uncover some secrets from her past and will some skeletons be revealed.

Official plot summary, source IMDb.com

Reading through the summary now, it still keeps it vague, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to write that the “unsavoury scandal” was a statutory rape. Gracie (portrayed by Julianne Moore) seduced her now husband (played by Charles Melton), who was 13 at the time. And if that “wasn’t enough”, she became pregnant with his child and gave birth to it (the first kid out of three). As it happens, this became a media sensation at the time, and now, 20+ years later, a high-profile actress (portrayed by Natalie Portman) comes to stay and spend some time with the family, as she is making a movie about that. And it quickly becomes apparent how everything is… just “a bit” off.

This is where May December started to slowly win me over as we explored this fucked up situation from multiple angles. From the “obvious” one as to how someone’s life looks like when they were raped by someone much older than him, why would someone stay with that person, to less obvious things like our (society’s) involvement by making this “couple” into almost stars? Portman’s character serves as this reminder of how you might have gone into something with good (?) intentions or the “it’s just another job” mindset, but it really is not. Her involvement and then the transformation into Gracie is unsettling. Both she and Julianne Moore were outstanding in this movie, but it is Charles Melton who stole this film from them.

This is weird, given Portman and Moore are two Oscar winners and would probably make TOP 10 of the best actresses we currently have working. But it’s Charles’s tender performance, full of nuance and heartbreaking moments, giving this movie its gravitas and showing you how damaging something like this would have been. Unfortunately, you still see this stereotype when things like this happen in real life; many don’t consider what happens to the boy, especially if the woman is considered “hot”. But if we swap genders, suddenly, everyone takes it more seriously. I am not saying it’s standard, but I think we all have seen the defence of: “Well, the boy might have been a bit young, but hey, she’s good-looking, so he probably didn’t protest too much.” And that’s so not the point. That is where this movie won me over because when it starts, you feel all kinds of icky. But the more you watch and spend time with his character, the more you understand his complexity. How he has this bottled-up anger and sadness, and there are moments when it seems like he wants to get away from Gracie, but her grip on him is just too powerful. What an outstanding performance by all, but mainly Charles Melton.

I also couldn’t help but think about Funny Games (1997) while I watched this movie. If you are not familiar, Funny Games is a very uncomfortable movie about home invasion. And something happens halfway through that movie that kind of shifts the blame onto us, the audience. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I felt like May December does the same thing, albeit it doesn’t break the fourth wall; it does more indirectly. When you start this film, you will probably ask yourself: “Why does this movie exist?” And as you watch it, the movie almost tells you it’s because of us. When stuff like this happens in the real world, we track it, buy tabloids about it and follow the story as if it were just another soap opera. What we often forget is that there are real people behind those articles, and one of them didn’t consent to anything as they couldn’t because they were underage. It would be easy to say that it’s all the media’s fault and those pesky actors who choose to act in these movies (and this film definitely says that), but there wouldn’t be any movie if the general audience didn’t care enough about the story. It’s all kinda twisted, icky thing, and if I were to rewatch it again, I would appreciate it even more.

Overall, May December is a movie that starts a bit slowly, but once you understand everything and get into the story, you are hooked. It’s a performance piece for three actors; it’s a complex movie about an uncomfortable topic, and I think and hope it’s a conversation starter. The film asks us very unpleasant questions, such as whether we should scandalize cases like these and (some) should really reconsider the “Well, a boy has to learn and was lucky she was good-looking.” defence that was never appropriate. This movie has a lot to say and will stay with you; I would 100% recommend it to everyone, despite its icky subject.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke