2023 film by Todd Haynes
May December is a 2023 American psychological drama film directed by Todd Haynes from a screenplay by Samy Burch, based on a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik. It stars Natalie Portman as an actress who travels to meet and study the life of Gracie (Julianne Moore), a sex offender she is set to play in a film. Gracie has been in a 24-year relationship with her husband Joe (Charles Melton), which began when he was 13 years old and she was 36.
While not a direct adaptation, the film mirrors the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal.
The film was announced in June 2021, with Portman and Moore joining the cast. Filmed in 23 days in mid-2022 in Savannah, Georgia, it premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023, where Netflix acquired the North American distribution rights.
May December had a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 17, 2023, before streaming on Netflix on December 1, 2023. It received critical acclaim and accolades, including four nominations at the 81st Golden Globe Awards and a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 96th Academy Awards, and was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2023.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.