May December
2023
Comedy / Drama

May December
2023
Comedy / Drama
Plot summary
Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
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And the Oscar goes to.....Charles Melton
good story and acting, but the music dominates too much
Over the past thirty years, Todd Haynes has been one of the leaders of New Queer Cinema. His movies have focused on housewives whose worlds have collapsed (Safe, Far from Heaven, Carol), Bob Dylan (I'm Not There) and forever chemicals (Dark Waters). Now he brings us a fictionalized account of Mary Kay LeTourneau, who infamously raped one of her students and started a family with him.
Haynes regular Julianne Moore plays the LeTourneau character, now getting interviewed by an actress (Natalie Portman) about to play her. The movie deserves credit for Haynes's direction, Moore's and Portman's performances, and the Academy Award-nominated script and cinematography (which deliberately gives the movie a fuzzy look). The downside is the music. It gets played loudly throughout much of the movie, and ends up dominating. This doesn't add anything to the movie, and it distracts from a lot of the action. They really could've done without that.
If you're looking for a good story, then this will be the movie for you, just as long as you remember that it has some of the most obnoxious music ever.
PS: LeTourneau was the daughter of John Schmitz, a congressman from Orange County and member of the John Birch Society.
The Aftermath of a Crime(s)
This movie is based on subtext and doesn't have an overt narrative that progresses like most films.
This movie is about the about one of the worst crimes that exists - CSA (look it up). If you understand it's generational and also very difficult to comprehend this movie will hit you HARD.
That being said, this is a very well done movie about adults who are really just children. They never healed from their traumas and what ensues is a vision of how life is when you ignore that stuff.
I personally have dealt this this crap, and ignoring it is the easy way out...but leads to a unlived life. You have to put the bright lights on it which is what Natalie Portman's character does.
The movie is for people that love film as art - not narrative. It is very well done. All the acting is based on nuanced subtext. The score and the cinematography are also very well done (I love slow zooms...sue me).
Overall it's a great film if you can just absorb the artform of a well paced uncovering of the aftermath of a crime and what happens when you steal innocence. It's a truly remarkable movie that will impact people that understand this dynamic in life. 8/10.