At the movies: May December… Why you should see this movie with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore?

What is it about?

To prepare for a new role, he comes to meet the famous actress he plays on screen, whose love life lit up the tabloids and shocked the country 20 years earlier.

Films in competition at the last Cannes Film Festival continue to hit theaters. In anticipation of Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest (Cannes Grand Prix 2023, exhibition next Wednesday), here is May December, Todd Haynes’ new play, regularly selected at Cannes and to which we owe Carole Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

3 good reasons to get excited for December in May!

As with Carol, December in May is a great movie for actors that elevates its performers, and that’s one of the first good reasons to get away from this movie.

A charming duo of actors

Todd Haynes directs Julianne Moore for the fifth time after Safe, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There and The Museum of Wonder. This is his favorite actor, with whom he established a rather remarkable collaboration and offered his most distinguished roles.

And for Natalie Portman, this is the first time in the world of a film director. Julianne Moore – Natalie Portman tandem is a spark.

An alarming scenario

May December’s story is disturbing and attractive. It is inspired by real events, a case that has caused a lot of ink in the United States. The story of Mary Kay Letourneau (now deceased), a wife, mother and teacher who fell in love with her fifth grade student.

The script, written not by Todd Haynes but by casting director Sammy Burch, who is making his first feature film debut here, takes the case loosely, as one feature of the film is to make several levels of the nest. , several layers in this subversive and ambiguous plot.

December of May is a very rich, very dense film that has several levels of reading and that tries to mix genres sometimes quite boldly, even tending to what we call “camp”, a term that is quite difficult to translate into French, but which means a form of humor, conscious shift.

Discover the works of Todd Haynes

in may in december Todd Haynes Will make his 10th feature film (including a documentary about The Velvet Underground). A filmmaker with an exciting track record who has a knack for sublimating his actors and his latest film is no exception to the rule.

May December is full of staged ideas and creates a very unique and mysterious atmosphere, highlighted by its catchy music, a re-orchestration of the original soundtrack of the film Le Messager (which we also know in France as the show’s theme song. Let the accused in!).

If you are not familiar with the films of Todd Haynes, I invite you to discover the video above, or go even further, delve into the book recently published by the Pompidou Center. American chimerasWritten by Judith Revault-d’Allonnes and Amélie Galli.

Find all the movie releases of the week

May December is currently in theaters.