'May December': A Complex Dance of Perception and Projection

Todd Haynes's new film explores the aftermath of a scandalous relationship, with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore delivering nuanced performances.

Todd Haynes's new film 'May December' stars Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, with a story inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau case.
Portman plays an actor named Elizabeth who begins shadowing a woman, Gracie (played by Moore), who had a scandalous relationship with a 13-year-old student in the 1990s.
The film takes place in 2015, with Gracie now out of prison, married to the now-adult Joe (Charles Melton) and raising their three children together.
Elizabeth's role in the film is to probe Gracie and Joe’s relationship as part of her research for a movie role.
The film has been described as a frosty, sly film of feints, bathos and, more often than not, restraint, with a slippery quality that defies easy classification.