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Todd Haynes was never going to make it easy to digest. No should it ever be. The director known for leaving you with peculiar lasting thoughts and scandalous ideas at times has found with MAY DECEMBER a script (written by Sammy Burch) and a story that was made for the tabloids. Loosely inspired by some of the headlines stories you’ve heard over the years, MAY DECEMBER doesn’t just tell a story of disturbing and highly illegal “love” it also wants to bask in the reality that many chose to exploit these real life situations for art. But Haynes and eccentric director can only do this with high camp and self-awareness that performers such as Juliane Moore and Natalie Portman have been able to deliver with natural ease over their career. And if that isn’t enough throw in a revelation of a performance from Charles Melton who sheds his Riverdale days for a career turning role that screams accolades from every corner. It is a film that relies on its script just as much as it does its performers but in doing so creates a balance not often seen in films today especially ones dealing with such controversial topics. A decision made early on not to choose concrete sides but rather allow its players to mock their situation as well as honor it. All of this leaving for a devastating result when the only thing that should have been done is recognizing the destruction that has been caused and accepted responsibility not participation. MAY DECEMBER is a film that features two women choosing control but instead it leaves behind a trail of a trapped man and his children that while should not exist, are alive and growing up fast and therefore seeking a way out might seem impossible even if it’s been brewing inside for years.

Twenty years ago Gracie and Joey (Julianne Moore and Charles Melton respectively) fell in love. Their first connection and physically intimate moments in the stock room of a Savannah pet supply shop. This wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if not for the disturbing fact that Joe was only 13 years old while Gracie and already forty something married woman with children of her own. The situation rightfully so become a town scandal that grew into a national tabloid story spawning years of journalistic intrigue as well as the inevitable lifetime movie. But twenty years later and Joe and Gracie are still together with children of their own one old enough to already be in college while their twins are graduating high school. Joe at only 33 is about to be an empty nester. A notion that leaves him nervous and the audience repulsed. But before any ideas of turning the film off or walking out come into play (the film never thrives in making you feel worse than you do) the lives of Gracie and Joe are about to have their own intrusion. Enter Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) an acclaimed actress who has ventured outside her Hollywood norm to shadow Gracie and her family in order to properly portray her in an upcoming movie. Portman as Elizabeth would have any method actor running for the hills as her methods and beliefs that all reality and roles will blend together feel both absurd and obnoxious. Thankfully Portman’s portrayal is more than aware of the lunacy it is inhabiting. The script calls for so many outlandish one liners that you can practically see her delivering them with sincerity on the films eventual press tour. This is a film that while already taking on a difficult subject also chooses to add on the mockery of inside Hollywood jokes that remind many of the pretentiousness and ignorance of actors even if they are being displayed by two actresses deeply involved in the industry. But Elizabeth wants to observe not judge. She learns quickly that many people in Gracie’s neighborhood have already come to terms with her marriage to Joe and instead of hide from them engage with them at family barbecues, let their own kids play with Joe’s son and daughter and enable Gracie’s baking accepting monthly orders of cakes. It all feels ripped out of classic suburbia even if the acceptance of this family feels far from reality.

MAY DECEMBER while dealing with a treacherous situation never asks you to put your judgements aside. It is one of the many smart choices the script and film as a whole does. Julianne Moore as Gracie may come with the dimwittedness of not taking responsibility of her situation, but the deeper Elizabeth becomes enthralled with Gracie’s life the more infuriating it becomes to think of the idea of anyone being fascinated with such a monster. Gracie not only pushed through the media frenzy and much deserved scrutiny, but she also came out on the other end with what she believes a healthy marriage and several kids from two marriages. Moore one of our finest actors brings such delicateness to Gracie to the point where even as an audience member you are perplexed at how someone could move forward at such ease. Elizabeth interviews many of the people in her neighborhood which includes her son Georgie (Cory Michael Smith) who was once childhood friends with Joe, and while Georgie is a raging fire of anger and deceit there is always the understanding that they may allow Gracie to live amongst them, but their hatred towards her has never died out. This anger continues to fuel Elizabeth and with Portman’s portrayal allows for some truly dark moments of humor that involves Elizabeth doing everything from copying Gracie’s skincare routine to trying to seduce Joe not as a grown man but mentally as the young boy he was and very much still is to this day.

Joe on the other the hand is where the film always crashes you down to Earth. Charles Melton is best known for playing Reggie Mantle on CW’s Riverdale for seven years and while one may see this role as a giant step up (it is) there is an uncomfortable connection of the two. In Riverdale Melton was playing a tough and rumble teenage and while in MAY DECEMBER he gets to play up his age with thirty-three there is still a teenager living inside him and is the only person he is deep down. While Gracie and Elizabeth are there to make you uncomfortable, Joe is here to bring a sadness and pull you away from any false ideologies these women carry with them. Even knowing the situation he is in is a dangerous one, when Joe is on screen it is a breath of fresh air. Melton as a performer is one of those rare times where you are not just seeing a star in the making but watching them perform on a level well that’s normally fit for the Moores and Portmans of the world. Melton brings a calmness that also has you questioning everything that came before. He is trapped that is for sure even if he hasn’t been able to come to those realizations, but scenes involving Joe and his son and daughter bring such a warmth that you forget everything around and just get to enjoy this family moment (without Gracie thankfully). But Haynes and Burch have more in their mind because they know that as sweet as those family moments may be there is the painful reaction from the audience as they see yes a father goofing around with his son, but what you are really witnessing is a young boy getting to make a friend. These moments where Melton gets to just be a kid again are some of the film’s best making all the more heartbreaking when he is brought back into his current situation by both Gracie and now Elizabeth and Melton as a performer only rises above every time his character falls.

Even when you think MAY DECEMBER may be entering the territory of over melodramatic it instead chooses to bask in its own silliness (a weird way to describe this kind of movie but here we are). It mocks the notion that these situations have existed in our real world and the human reaction while be it disgust is still so fascinated with these stories that we continue to make films out of them, bring these people onto reality tv and all around forget the true victims in each case. Haynes is not saying we are complicit in any way, but he also isn’t stopping you from creating that thought yourself. It is easy to mock Elizabeth for her method acting bullshit but how many of us still flock to the plethora of Oscar bait films each year that only pretend to understand the pain or evil behavior of some of these people. MAY DECEMBER is one of the few movies in its mockery actually avoids falling into the same trap, sure even if trophies and nominations are in sight for MAY DECEMBER and its performers it will be accepted with a giant sense of irony. Even as the film wraps up and it becomes clear as day what clip could be used for Portman’s inevitable Oscar nomination those with half a brain will see how it is a moment that is reminding us of the inauthentic performances that come from thinking you can find the “realness” out of someone’s pain. In doing so you yourself just become another part of the problem leaving your own trail of destroyed people who may not even realize they are trapped until it is too late.

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MAY DECEMBER HAD ITS NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE AT THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL. IT WILL BE RELEASED IN SELECT THEATERS NOVEMBER AND STREAMING ON NETFLIX DECEMBER 1