May December (2023)

‘May December’ is Darkly Comedic Melodrama Carried by Strong Performances From Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. Todd Haynes’ latest film explores a controversial issue yet sometimes slides into a strange tone that doesn’t fit with the rest of the movie.

Premiering on Netflix December 1st, ‘May December’ is the new dramatic film from Todd Haynes, who reunites once again with Julianne Moore. This time, Natalie Portman joins for a complicated story of truth, reputation, perception and performance. Haynes, as ever, is a reliable filmmaker for a female-fronted story of controversial passion (he handled the subject delicately and winningly with ‘Carol’), but here it’s as if he also gives in to a notion of melodrama that doesn’t always work, and a distracting score choice doesn’t help that.