Image via Sky
May December is a film filled with promises and resolutions that never come. It proves that personal connections are treacherous, and all too often they get in the way of good intentions. Writer-director Todd Haynes (Carol) knows this all too well and dives into deep water addressing age gap relationships, by bringing together Julianne Moore (Gracie), Natalie Portman (Elizabeth), and Charles Melton (Joe Yoo) in a drama that picks apart small town prejudice amid a public scandal.
Besides the galvanising score from Marcelo Zarvos, adapted from a pre-existing work by Michel Legrand, May December is like watching water gradually come to the boil over 2 hours. There is a vicarious nature to the way this story unfolds as these Oscar winning actors engage in some understated sparring, that comes through as the movie star picks Gracie’s life apart and slips beneath her skin, leaving a tangible tension between them as professional courtesy turns into personal prying and boundaries get broken down.
Image via Sky
Very little time is spent on giving audiences a way in as Haynes is more interested in that human connection. So much gets said through silences as Gracie and Elizabeth tiptoe around one another putting on a performance, hiding insecurities, or dodging questions that might just leave them vulnerable. In many respects May December possesses the aura of a stage production, since Haynes intentionally keeps his camera static and lingers for longer, allowing audiences to fill that frame with their own opinions.
Image via Sky
As Elizabeth starts to adopt Gracie’s mannerisms things take a darker turn, revealing one pitch black twist after another that topple like dominoes as everything comes to a head. Lines are crossed, words exchanged, and revelations come thick and fast as the delicate relationship between Gracie and Joe comes unstuck and the latter starts questioning his life choices. Up until then Charles Melton had held his own opposite these Oscar winners as they explored their relationship, leaving him alone to establish his position as the beating heart of this film.
To achieve that Joe became an emotional balm to both, tackling feelings of adolescence insecurity which had resurfaced following the arrival of Elizabeth in his life. Gracie also bears the burden of more than sexual impropriety beneath the surface, since unexpected emotional outbursts are frequent, and she clings to her role of happy homemaker like a life raft. Elizabeth is equally guilty of manipulation, hiding behind characters as others conceal themselves behind a curtain, using that star status as currency to access another life in the hopes of forgetting herself completely. That then is what awaits audiences who dive into May December, where artifice is everything and the tragedies people admit in public are often only half the story.
May December is in selected cinemas from 17 November and available on Netflix from 1 December.
