From the director of Far From Heaven and Dark Waters comes May December. This romantic drama film directed by Todd Haynes, and written by Samy Burch. Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.
In June 2021, it was announced that Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore were cast in a romantic drama, "very loosely" based on the story of Mary Kay Letourneau, penned by Burch and to be directed by Haynes. On January 30, 1962, American convicted sex offender and teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child, Mary Katherine "Mary Kay" Letourneau, was born. The child was Vili Fualaau, who was twelve years old when sexual relations first occurred and had been her sixth-grade student at an elementary school in Burien, Washington. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's child. With the state seeking a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence, she reached a plea agreement calling for six months in jail, with three months suspended, and no contact with Fualaau for life, among other terms. The case received national attention. Shortly after Letourneau had completed three months in jail, the police caught her in a car with Fualaau. A judge revoked her plea agreement and reinstated the prison sentence for the maximum allowed by law of seven and a half years. Eight months after returning to prison, she gave birth to Fualaau's second child, another daughter. From 1998 to 2004, she was imprisoned. In May 2005, Letourneau and Fualaau were married, and the marriage lasted fourteen years until their separation in 2019. Portman brought Burch's script to Haynes as a potential collaboration between the two. Haynes loved the script, and then suggested Moore for the role opposite Portman. By October 2022, Charles Melton, D.W. Moffett, Piper Curda, Cory Michael Smith, Elizabeth Yu and Gabriel Chung rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in November. Filming took place in Savannah, Georgia. The script was originally set in Camden, Maine. Ed Lachman was initially going to serve as cinematographer but was replaced by Christopher Blauvelt due to Lachman's hip injury. In May 2023, Netflix acquired the North American distribution rights for $11 million. The film is scheduled for a December 1, 2023 release date on Netflix after its November 17, 2023 theatrical release.
The film stars Portman, Moore, Melton, Moffett, Curda, Smith, Yu and Chung. In her first collaboration with Haynes, Portman delivers a dazzling performance. In her 5th collaboration with Haynes, Moore gives a utterly heartbreaking performance.
Haynes' Mary Kay Letourneau allegory is chilly, unsettling and confronting. Portman and Moore's quiet performances are exquisite and emotionally devastating; easily one of their best. The film does to us what Letourneau did to her community, cannily exploiting our willingness to find answers where there are none, to read meaning into associations.
Simon says
May December receives:
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