REVIEW: "May December"

Genre: Drama; Comedy

Director: Todd Haynes

Writer: Samy Burch

Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton

Todd Haynes has already presented the world some of the most exquisite pieces of cinema in recent history from cult films like Velvet Goldmine or I'm Not There to brilliant gems like Far From Heaven and Carol, but these great films might be difficult to appeal general audiences... With May December, Haynes not only offers one of the most disturbing narratives of his career but also the most acessible one. Led by a wonderful trio of performances, May December is the rare melodrama done right without falling into the soap opera realm.

It's a movie full of metaphors and symbolisms: from Joe's (Charles Melton) character arc being linked to a butterfly's cycle to the cunning nature of Gracie (Julianne Moore) being represented by a fox she refuses to shoot somewhere in the film, while Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is often mirroring Gracie and playing with the mirror images of herself - a representation of her acting abilities. The butterfly, the fox and the mirror between them - it's a perfect analogy for a man evolving to a form that allows him to fly because of the way the actress mirrored the fox he has been living with. May December might be all about character development, but it manages to be always interesting and audience friendly without giving away all of its rich subjective touches. A sometimes hypnotic study about the many layers of love, sexual attraction, social norm and personal development that also offers a glance at the effort put in method acting.

The three leads are outstanding! Three different characters played by three very different actors. For me, I was truly impressed by Natalie Portman's performance - she has already proved no one's better than her at playing a woman obsessed with her craft (2010's Black Swan) and she does it again, brilliantly. Her Elizabeth is a curious character on paper, but the way Portman handles her and delves deep into the many layers of her character turns her Elizabeth into the most intriguing subject of the movie. She is a manipulative woman in search of her own self-consciousness as the character she's studying to play - proof is her monologue in front of the mirror, which marks the moment she finds her inner Gracie - and Portman excels in this kind of dramatic parts that require her to translate the ability to her a mask to the screen. We go from Elizabeth mirroring Gracie in multiple scenes to having Elizabeth reharsing herself in front of the camera (as she was looking in a mirror) and evokes the inner Gracie she has constructed. Amazing!

Julianne Moore delivers a performance of intriguing mystery. She is given a juicy character that could easily be condemned for the moral ambiguity of her relationship with a minor, but Moore and Haynes approach her with a lot of dignity and respect for the potential grey areas: she's both a sociopath and a victim of love, a woman who was in completely denial of her feelings but unapologetical by nature. She doesn't have the same shiny moments as Portman, but she proves to be one of the greatest living actresses by being extremely efficient with her screentime... and no one cries like her! A sociopath that somehow also manipulates the audience and makes you wonder what are her initial and current intentions. But the big revelation is Charles Melton, who makes an impressive TV-film transition here. His is a quiet strenght that somehow stand-out from the mind games played between Portman and Moore's characters - he plays the only honest character in the room. A sincere and star-making performance as a man who still is a teenage as he was deprived of his young adulthood because of the romantic relationship he started at a young age and he approaches Joe's internal conflict with dignity and respect for his character.

The screenplay offers multiple catchy lines and the characters' arcs are well developed, but the biggest standout aspect of the movie is Marcelo Zarvos' BEAUTIFUL score, which plays almost like a character in the movie as it attaches a urgent and mysterious vibe to it. Chris Blauvelt's cinematography work is also beautiful, specially the close-ups scenes and the use of mirrors to evoke the identity heist Elizabeth is performing.

In the end, May December is not perfect, specially because I felt there were some strings left unattached at the end, but it is a very very good melodrama that reminds us of some masterpieces like Ingmar Bergman's Persona and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, but with the sensitive and delicate signature hand of Todd Haynes - not his best film (that spot still belongs to Carol for me), but some excellent cinema as well. Some of the best acting you will see all here is here!

RATING: 8,5 / 10

OSCAR POTENTIAL CATEGORIES:

Best Picture

Best Director (Todd Haynes)

Best Actress (Natalie Portman)

Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore)

Best Supporting Actor (Charles Melton)

Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Original Score