‘May December’ First Look: Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore face off

May 1, 2023

The Cannes-bound feature comes from Samy Burch’s blacklisted screenplay, which follows a drunken film production.

Ahead of its Cannes premiere later this month, Todd Haynes’ latest film, May December , premiered the new drama (via Variety).

The film, Haynes’ 10th, follows a pair of women (Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore) whose personal and professional lives begin to blur as they work together to create a stressful production of a headline-grabbing love affair. “May December” is based on Samy Burch’s blacklisted screenplay, the story of Burch and Alex Mechanik, about a married couple whose lives come under pressure when an actress arrives to research their past for a film. including the couple’s infamous May-December tabloid romance that once gripped the nation.

According to its official synopsis, the film takes place: “20 years after her infamous tabloid romance took the nation by storm, Gracie Atherton-Yu and her husband Joe (23 years her junior) prepare for their twins’ high school graduation. When Hollywood actress Elizabeth Berry spends time with her family to better understand Gracie, whom she will play in a film, the family dynamic unravels under the pressure of the outside gaze. Joe, who has never processed what happened in his youth, begins to face the reality of life as an empty nester at the age of 36.”

Haynes regular Moore (who previously collaborated with the filmmaker on “Safe,” “Wonderstruck” and “Far from Heaven”) as the female half of the original couple (with Charles Melton as her husband), with Portman (joining Haynes for the first time) in his made movie version. Piper Curda, Elizabeth Yu and Gabriel Chung play Moore and Melton’s children, who are also central to the story.

In the film’s first look, Portman and Moore face off as Moore’s Gracie goes about her usual day as a diligent Elizabeth takes copious notes on the minutiae of Gracie’s life (her makeup routine!). And yes, things are already looking a little off the rails. Drama!

The film was shot in Georgia and was completed in November. Christopher Blauvelt is the film’s cinematographer, and the other members of the creative team are production designer Sam Lisenco, editor Affonso Gonçalves, costume designer April Napier and casting director Laura Rosenthal.

“May/December” will premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival later this month.

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