May December
★★★★★
May December is secretly one of the most scathing movie about movies ever. I didn't quite know how to feel about the film once it was finished, but I couldn't stop thinking about it the next day. Even as cynical I can be at times, I totally can get wrapped up into how art depicts real-life events as truth. Although I know that artistic liberties are taken all the time, I often can't help leaving a biopic or documentary feeling like I know everything there is to know about a person or an event. Director Todd Haynes uses the characters in May December to shine the spotlight back on ourselves. How many times do we judge a person or a celebrity off a headline? Even in our personal lives, how quick are we to judge somebody when something doesn't go our way.
I wouldn't even think of classifying this film as a comedy, but by the end, it's pretty comical to think that we believe the actress Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) would know everything about the intentions of the convicted sex offender Gracie (Julianne Moore) just because she learned how to bake or put on makeup like Gracie would. Everyone in this film is manipulating each other in one way or another. Yes, some or more malicious than others, but one thing Haynes is trying to make certain is that truth may be an illusion that we create to make ourselves feel better.
Portman and Moore are stupendous together and know the exact tone and balance to take with their complex characters. But I was particularly blown away by Charles Melton who has to convey so many emotions with very few words. And that is what stands out most in this film, which is the unsaid. There are so many instances where as an audience, we are wanting to know more about backstories, characters and motivations. With other movies, you feel like these holes were left on the cutting room floor, but in this case, Haynes intentionally leaves us in the dark because that's the whole point to this story. We will never learn the true complexities of another human being, no matter how hard we try.
