May December
By Joanna Langfield
Todd Haynes’ provocative drama is full of questions. After watching it, I’ve got a few of my own.
This stylish scandal centers around an actress who comes to visit the woman she is about to portray in a movie. Tantalizing, even more so when the two actresses playing the women are the always interesting Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. What juicy fun could be had! After all, are any of us really the way we think we are? How much do we want to put out into the world, on a daily basis, or through the eyes of someone else, on film? The portrayer/portrayee dynamic is potent. But here comes the kicker. Moore’s Gracie, who seems so happily married to Joe? Well, turns out they met years ago, when Joe was barely a teenager. Gracie gave birth to their first child in prison, where she had been sentenced for the sexual abuse of a minor.
Oh. Haynes doesn’t just ask the movie’s judgment on all this, he asks ours, too. Do we forgive? After all, Gracie and Joe’s family seems so happy. Settled into the town where it all went down, they’ve got a beautiful house, friends. It’s all good now. Or is it?
Both Portman and Moore revel in peeling the layers off these complicated women. But the only one who reached my heart was Charles Melton, as the man who may be in way over his head. I found myself not as wrapped up in the reveals as I was curious about too many other things. How did Gracie and Joe get that beautiful house? Money appears to be no object for them, even though she bakes a bit and he seems to work in a health facility somewhere. Maybe they’re paying for everything on credit, building up a house of cards that could tumble the second trouble comes along? Maybe they got paid for their story’s rights? But then why are they worried about film’s intention? Maybe I’m just too literal for a movie that reaches for far loftier things? But shouldn’t I have been much more intrigued in the nasty than I was in the nitty gritty?
The Movie Minute 
April 3, 2024 at 5:57 pm
From the beginning of this movie I thought that a woman having sex with a 12 year old boy was mentally disturbed. I didn’t think they were happily married watching the portrayal of the young husband by now 36. How did the family live in that expensive house? It was a very good movie, but very disturbing.