May December is acclaimed director Todd Haynes’ latest film with frequent collaborator of is work, Julianne Moore. Accompanying Moore are Natalie Portman and relative newbie Charles Melton.
May December profiles the life and relationship of Grace (Julianne Moore) and Joe Atherton-Yoo (Charles Melton), who’s story is being adapted into a film starring Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who will play Grace, and is staying with the couple in order to research such a complicated role. Through Elizabeth’s interviewing of Grace, Joe and their family, the couple’s complex history is uncovered, and the audience learn that Grace entered into a relationship with Joe, and raped him, when he was 13 years old. The couple were caught, and Grace was sent to jail, during which she gave birth to Joe’s child. After she was released, she married Joe, and they had two more children.
Grace isn’t portrayed as a sympathetic character, but seeing someone who has done something so awful living a simple, domestic life, settled down with a husband and children, makes for a deeply uncomfortable experience. This is heightened by the fact that Elizabeth becomes somewhat friendly with Grace, and never challenges her to explain or repent for her past. As if May December wasn’t unsettling enough, finding out that is loosely based on the real-life case of Mary Katherine Letourneau and Vili Fualaau adds another layer to the horror of the film.
Elizabeth is an interesting character, as she is gradually absorbed by Grace, studying her mannerisms, relationships, makeup routine, and even slightly emulating her lisp subconsciously. At the end she gives the audience a brief look at her perfect performance as Grace, the meticulous research and questioning having paid off.
May December is shot in a way that invites the viewer, much like Elizabeth, into the Atherton-Yoo home and given a peek behind the curtains of a relationship which was the talk of the nation a decade ago. The use of close-ups, shots from behind glass or other objects, and a largely still or slow-moving camera gives the impression that the audience is in the scene itself, watching everything unfold.
The film’s blocking, the way the characters are positioned in the scene, constantly informs the audience of the various power dynamics and complex relationships within the movie, complimenting the fantastic performances.
Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore give enthralling performances as Elizabeth and Grace, as Elizabeth is pulled in by Grace’s simple charisma and obsesses over every aspect of her life. The film’s standout performance, however, is from Charles Melton as Joe. Melton has only led two feature films before May December, but delivers a gut wrenching performance as a man robbed of his youth trying to give his children the life he never had. His performance has been nominated for 10 awards and, as of writing this, has won 6 of them, including the Breakout Performance Award from the Celebration of Cinema & Television.
May December, ultimately, portrays a couple’s twisted history, and a woman who can’t help but find herself pulled in by it all. It tackles a very heavy subject, and adding to the discomfort with its portrayal of Grace without crossing the line and stepping into sympathetic territory.
Find screening times for May December at Perth Festival here: