New York Film Festival Review: ‘December in May’ Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman Dive into Todd Haynes’ Campy but Unsettling New Feature

May December. (Left to right) Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry and Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yu in May-December. Kr. Francois Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix

Todd Haynes made a career out of studying unique individuals. His curious nature continues in May December, one of his most playful works to date. Opening the 61st New York Film Festival, this is perhaps the funniest thing he’s ever done. Even though he laughs, he still reflects on human nature and what makes a person who he is. Armed with stunning acting, this is fertile ground for exploration. NYFF has an interesting little treat.

May December challenges simple conventions. While it sounds campy and soapy at times, it also has a sly sense of humor, all filtered through the lens of Haynes’ observation. It’s certainly one of his more enjoyable films, even if it ends up feeling a little lighter than some of his other work. However, there is an unsettling nature that is always present, just beneath the surface. For me it’s certainly top tier, but it can’t match the power of something like Carol

, For example. However, it certainly works.

Actress Elizabeth BerryNatalie Portman) is gearing up for a new movie role, and in preparation, she’s going to spend some time with the film’s real-life mastermind. It turned out to be Gracie Atherton-Yu (Julianne Moore). Twenty years ago Gracie and Joe (Charles Melton) got on a romantic date. The tabloids had a lot of fun with them, since he is more than twenty years younger than her. Now that the film has been made, Elizabeth has come to study Gracie.

Observing family life, Elizabeth is amazed at how much is hidden beneath the surface. At the same time, Joe finally begins to compare what happened, here at age thirty-six, when all their children are about to leave for college. While this is happening, Gracie is studying Elizabeth just as much, noticing both their similarities and differences. This all reaches a bit of a boiling point, but it also shows how difficult it is to ever fully understand someone. We can try, but we are all little mysteries to ourselves.

Natalie Portman is excellent in a slightly challenging role, and Julianne Moore, again working with Haynes, is excellent in her role. The big discovery is Charles Melton, who has a couple of really great scenes, one with each of the ladies. Portman is the best in the series, truly deconstructing what an actress obsessed with a role can do, while Moore finds both humor and near-horror in her complex character. When they film together, there’s almost always some nasty laughter. Melton is very much the soul of the film, so there is less humor in his scenes, but the most important ones involve him. Player support in the film includes Gabriel Chang, Piper Curda, D. W. Moffett, Corey Michael Smith, Elizabeth Yuand more.

Todd Haynes is filming here Sami Birch And Alex Mechanic. He enjoys camp and the soapy nature, especially when it could just be melodrama. Rating from Marcelo Zarvos really impressive and the visuals from the cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt juicy. The script sets the pins for Haynes to knock down with his main talented trio. They all lean into the camp of it all, but they also never forget how disturbing it really is. The results speak for themselves. I wouldn’t call this Haynes at his most mainstream, as that would be Dark Watersbut it will actually be great to watch at home on Netflix, which is a nice little bonus.

May December This is a fun way for me to start the New York Film Festival. It’s sort of a mash-up of high and low art that works better than you might expect. Of course, the presence of Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman goes a long way towards making this happen. After much hype at the Cannes Film Festival, the film sold like a gangster film here in New York. At the very least, she should win Best Actress for Portman and Best Supporting Actress for Moore, and deservedly so.

RATING: ★★★