May December review. (English)

 

May December thoughts 

  May December, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, directed by Todd Haynes, tells the story of a scandalous couple, whom 20 years after their tabloid affair, welcomed an actress that wanted to dig up the nature of their relationship for her latest movie. Those are more or less the words of the synopsis found on google, IMDB, Letterboxd and most social media, although I'll admit, it's a bit misleading. May December is not a drama, not a soapy romance movie, and the relationship portrayed is not (just) a "tabloid scandal romance" it is a grotesque -but human- case of grooming, manipulation, coercion and and exploration of all the aspects that make up this case. It's not an easy watch, it's rather tense, and there is not one minute of the movie that is not filled with suspense, it might as well be the kind of horror movie that makes you want to crawl out of your own skin. The slow zooming of the camera, and the scary loud violins, and the led-light rooms resembling a sci-fi laboratory of evil, they all make you feel like you are, indeed, watching a horror movie. The cinematography is exceptional, it adheres to the story perfectly and absorbs the viewer like a one-way ticket trip. 

  Big part of the whole horror movie ambiance is the exceptional performances in the movie, particularly of the three main characters. We know from Black Swan(2010) that Natalie Portman can mess with your head and deliver a psychological horror performance flawlessly, making us very, very  uncomfortable. Portman plays Elizabeth Barry, a hollywood actress preparing for her role as the enigmatic and romanced pedophile. Elizabeth is sort of a method actress, she wants to make her performance real and true- she's not afraid to blur the line between real and pretend. As she studies every aspect of her subject's life, Elizabeth undergoes a metamorphosis that is even scarier than that of Black Swan's- her acting seems way too real, her methods are scary, and her character merges to the point where you question if she's capable of repeating the actions of a woman like the one she's meant to portray.

  Besides Natalie Portman we have Julianne Moore, she plays Gracie, the 60 year old lady that married the boy she met when he was only 13, and unapologetically continued her life as if she had never done anything wrong (after getting out of jail, of course). Gracie is layer after layer of complex, infuriatingly tangible features and dimensions. As they keep peeling more of her, Juliane Moor's acting never falters- not for a second. She is the morally-gray (kinda), deeply wounded, irredeemable villain. The acting sure as hell makes you hate her, as well as understand her. Gracie is perplexing, confusing, pitiful and wicked- and after playing the role so accurately, you might feel Julianne Moore is too. 

  Last, but most definitely not least important, is Charles Melton as Gracie's husband, Joe Yoo. Grew up too fast in a Korean-American household, seeking out a job during the summer after seventh grade, a mature, caring and handsome boy, so brave, so smart. 24 years later, he's still 13 in mind. A boy stuck in the past, where his life stopped at the hands of a predator. Melton's performance brings this entire movie together, his hunched posture might be from carrying this movie on his back (not really, again everyone was exceptional). From the beginning, Joe is a man that never dared to see himself as a victim. He tries to convince everyone, especially himself, that he was always autonomous and responsible for himself. But this security cracked, and for the very first time, he began to look back and reflect on his life. All the "comfort" started melting away ever so slowly. Charles Melton portrays each aspect of this character in such a meticulous, perfect way, it's hard not to feel your guts wrench with his tiniest motion. 

  To try to keep this review the most spoiler-free and vague as possible, I'll do the impossible to summarize my thoughts. There is no shot, no line of dialogue, no element, no character, that isn't a fully constructed idea on its own, as well as a piece of a much bigger, multi-dimensional puzzle. Each character is twisted and victimized in their own ways, all of them tell a story that makes up the  story of May December. It serves as a character study of sorts, we pick at the brain of everyone involved, the predators and the naive, the cold-hearted bystanders and the offsprings of iniquitous affairs. We keep peeling layer after layer, like a post-it notebook. The script challenges you, the acting is real, the cinematography is absorbing, each and every single aspect of this movie is intricate as it is astonishing. This movie, although chilling, is human.