Haynes knows how to get under his audience's skin with subtle techniques, often surprising us with how affected we are by what we are watching. May December creeps into our minds quietly, with a very mundane, slice of life approach. We watch a family going through their day to day lives with little pieces of the backstory being revealed until we understand just how difficult the background is for these people. But even more than that, we watch while someone else is watching, and extracting from these people something that may once again make their lives harder. It is all very uncomfortable and difficult to wrap our minds and our feelings around.
The cast is terrific even beyond Moore and Portman who both bring such complexity to their characters. Melton, who is getting a lot of praise for this role, takes a very understated approach and in that develops quite a fascinating character. I would also point out Smith who has only a few scenes but plays them with a strength that makes his character more than just what it could have been. They all come together quite perfectly and fit into Haynes deliberately opaque style.
May December will challenge you. It sneaks up you but also just leaves you to sit with what you are seeing. It never holds your hand or tells you what to feel. I often felt confused and conflicted. I think that is the main strength of the film, to just give us something incredibly difficult to deal with and leave us to deal with it, not just the history of this family and the consequences of that, but of the voyeuristic nature of this moment in their lives, the insertion of Portman's character into their journey and how she takes from them. And how does that implicate us, the audience, not only of this film but of so much of the "reality" entertainment we consume.
May December
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, Corey Michael Smith
Director: Todd Haynes
Writer: Samy Burch
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