'May December' Review: Natalie Portman Stars In Superb Drama
The film follows Natalie Portman , who plays Elizabeth Berry, a Hollywood star who moves to Savannah, Georgia, in 2015 to spend time with the real-life man she will play in the film.
This is Grace Atherton Yeo (Julianne Moore), a mother, wife and professional baker who was jailed twenty years ago for having an affair with her husband Joe Yeo (Charles Melton), when she was 36. The old man was 13 years old.
The film is directed by veteran filmmaker Todd Haynes (“Carol”) and written by Sammy Birch, a screenwriter who previously worked in the casting department on franchises such as “The Hunger Games.”
One might say that "May" could be forgiven for being presented as the kind of sinister, trashy thriller that was once so prominent in "Grace" that a film version of a pulp tale could hardly be called a real-life film. Inspired by Mary Kay. Letourneau. .
With a different director and a script less focused on moral complexities, it could have been.
But Hines and Birch see the bigger picture here. The story they tell centers on the decades-long consequences of this devastating moment, the destruction of families and lives.
The signs are everywhere: stacks and stacks of stacked cigarettes, smoked by the character who managed to stop the attack.
Grace's total refusal to consider her behavior is a level of denial so deeply ingrained, so natural, that it seems to define her.
Joe's childish behavior and difficult emotional state, played beautifully and thoughtfully by Melton, speak volumes about the trauma he carries with him, even as he and his wife prepare to send their second and third children to college.
This story is compelling enough to stand on its own. But Elizabeth's presence complicates the picture, bringing the attention back to the viewer.
Haynes makes excellent use of moments of suspense and tension where Portman and Moore look at each other in the same mirror and even the same makeup, as well as other parallel touches that show how Elizabeth becomes increasingly obsessed with more than just seeing the man, but try it. His life.
He's a difficult character to get right. Portman does this because she is less interested in making Elizabeth a likable character than a motivated one. Acting as an audience surrogate, the man represents something tangible, if not relatable, about how we have been taught to eagerly devour the stories plucked from our heads.
The cumulative effect of all this: a film that lives on the margins, without coherently and conveniently answering difficult questions or a clear model of how to think and feel. You don't have to be afraid to be honest about a difficult topic and understand that the whole truth is not easy to understand.
Bottom line: This is a thoughtful and compassionate film, beautifully made, even if it could have been something completely different.
