May December
This article contain mentions of intimate rape and preparation .
Summary
Todd Haynes’sMay Decemberranks among the right moving-picture show to harness themes like sexual use and scandalous journalism , so there are plenty of comparable movies to watch if you like the 2023 dramatic event . With the film addressing particularly discomforting truth with a emergency of gloomy humor , it is resonant of similarly acclaimed flick , including Haynes ’s late work , known for their multi - genre experimentation with such realities . These picture may likewise derive multiple interpretations of the hurt that go with prepare . Movies about the intimate tumult of Hollywood royal line also merit to be mentioned , weigh how the lead characters ofMay December(played by Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore ) are emotionally roiled actresses .
WithMay Decemberbased on the true storyof instructor and sex activity wrongdoer Mary Kay Letourneau , the Netflix dramatic play features Moore as Gracie , a woman married to the same man whom she had sexual relations with geezerhood ago when he was a minor . Portman plays the aim actress Elizabeth , who shadows Gracie to play her part in an upcoming movie . Their subsequent interaction disclose some uncomfortable closed book , with Elizabeth also glimpsing into her own past . Sensationalist news media is also not spared in search Gracie ’s living . With the retrospective viewpoints of its type and their real - world implications , many other dialogue - driven drama research similar themes asMay December .
The multifaceted ending of Todd Haynes ' May December finds Portman ’s Elizabeth contemplating the truth of Moore ’s controversial Gracie fictitious character .
9The Tale (2018)
Available to stream on Max and DirecTV
With Laura Dern offering one of her career - upright performances , the HBO movieThe Taleis a powerful work of documentary fable with writer - director Jennifer Fox explore her experience of facing prepare through Dern ’s protagonist . The Talefocuses on the endeavor of a documentary movie maker to interview victim of intimate violation while tapdance into pent-up storage of her childhood trauma . Not an easy sentry , The Tale ’s flashback chronological succession rap intothe cicatrix that a groomer can leave on someone for life . The eld gap inMay Decemberis similarly drawn out from a true story with the movie sympathetically delving into the past times of one such illicit human relationship .
8Grey Gardens (2009)
Grey Gardenscovers the decay of the nominal house that belonged to yesteryear American socialite and cabaret performing artist Edith Bouvier Beale and her aged female parent Edith Ewing Bouvier . Boasting large social connexion in their heyday , the female parent - daughter duo falls out of the public centre with the ruining of Grey Gardens ironically representing their decline . As a documentary work party attempts to cover their story , both get apprehensive about how they will be seen after all these yr . Thesefears of being maligned by the mediaare ever - present inMay Decemberwith Gracie ’s controversial aliveness bring in out the exploitative side of journalism , making matter bad for everyone else involved in her life .
Grey Gardensis a dramatisation remake the iconic 1975 documentary film of the same name .
7Carol (2015)
Available to stream on Netflix and Kanopy
Cast
An older fair sex on the verge of divorce and a younger woman still seeking a function in lifetime — when these two characters spoil each other ’s path one snowy Christmas , a tragical romanticism blooms between them . Released almost a decade beforeMay December , Carolproved Todd Haynes ’s gift at helming passionate charactefr - driven storey without any flashy theatrics . The narrative are different in each slip butboth movies perfectly illustrate the managing director ’s approach to convey out the best out of his lead . Be it the case of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara inCarolor Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman inMay December , both pairings powerfully complement each other .
6The End Of The Tour (2015)
Available to stream on Kanopy and DirecTV
This A24 comedy about an introverted audience between aRolling Stonejournalist and menacing source David Foster Wallace draws line of latitude withMay Decembernot because of the media angle , but in the first place because of the life - changing conversation at its core . May Decemberis primarily drive by the interactions between its two protagonists , with Elizabeth seek to get into Grace ’s drumhead to accurately portray her on screen . While Jesse Eisenberg ’s medicine newsperson is n’t that insistent on catch answers , the interviews he has with Jason Segel ’s Wallace end up proving howsome conversation can indeed be life - changing . InMay Decembertoo , Elizabeth gets strike by her conversations with Grace in some unprecedented ways .
5The Hunt (2012)
Available to stream on Prime Video, Kanopy, Magnolia Selects, Pluto TV, Plex, The Roku Channel, Vudu, Crackle, and Tubi
A teacher ’s life sentence turn upside down when one of his young distaff student says an innocent trivial lie , accusing him of libidinous conduct . The Huntpresentsa gritty look at mob DoJ and how susceptible tiddler ’s minds can bein their former years . And yet , Thomas Vinterberg ’s firmly - strike Danish film does n’t paint nestling as fleeceable either . InMay December , the table are turn as Joe did face sexual grooming when he was 13 , a verity that he regain difficult to come to terms with as he grows up . The complexity of children ’s views on sexuality thatThe Huntpresented is further fleshed out in Todd Haynes ’s dramatic play .
4The Diary Of A Teenage Girl (2015)
Available to rent on all major VOD platforms
Playing out as a satirical take onLolita - esque account , The Diary of a Teenage Girlis powered by Bel Powley ’s heartwarming operation as the titular teen . She plays 15 - year - one-time Minnie , an aspire cartoonist who enters a sexual relationship with her undivided mother ’s boyfriend . As a disconsolate comedy of fault ensues , The Diary of a Teenage Girlalso pays extra attention to Minnie ’s emotional dilemma with sexual freeing . The gender roles are reverse withCharles Melton’sMay Decembercharacter Joewhere it ’s the teenage male child who gets swayed by a groomer . Joe ’s backstory is similarly handled with care to showhow stripling can be misguided as they come of eld .
3Una (2016)
Available to stream on Peacock, Starz, and Kanopy
After eld of mental confusion and fearfulness , the titulary heroine inUnadecides to face her much older neighbor about a kinship they follow up on when she was only 13 . Animpactful comment on gender and geezerhood politics in intimate grooming , Unadoesn’t shy off from search the complexity of such relationships . And much likeMay December , Unathankfully does n’t rely on any expressed shock note value . Todd Haynes ’s film assume satiric thrusting at over - the - top news media that can reave the victim forth from any single delegacy . Unasimilarly stress the motive for the victim to have a voice instead of just being reduce to a sob story .
May December ’s cast is contribute by the Oscar - winning active duo Natalie Portman & Julianne Moore , featuring a breakout performance from Charles Melton .
2An Education (2009)
Available to stream on Hulu and The Roku Channel
The controversial relationship at the substance ofMay Decemberhas its fair share of complexities , humanizing both someone involved in this arrangement . An Educationtakes an approach to portraying such relationships with notable eld gaps but with some criminal offense caper twists . Carey Mulligan offers a breakout carrying out as the teenage girl Jenny Mellor who falls for Peter Saarsgaard ’s older conman David Goldman . A delightfully dark come in - of - age drama , An Educationis also comparable toMay Decemberin the sense thatit is also animate by a true report . Nick Hornby ’s screenplay is based on British journalist Lynn Barber ’s schoolgirl affair with the conman Simon Prewalski .
1Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Nearlyevery Todd Haynes movie ranksinvolves recurring themes present in his multi - decade career . It ’s interesting howHaynes ’s geographic expedition of tabloid journalismplayed a major purpose in his 1998 glam - rock tributeVelvet Goldminebefore he took on the sensationalist nature of crime journalism inMay December . The latter centered on the media coverage of Gracie and Joe ’s human relationship , which only end up peril the privateness of a young Joe , whileVelvet Goldmineparticularly focuses on the press - induce pressure that a norm - withstand rockstar operate through . With enough style and substance , Velvet Goldminedeserves to be revisited if newfangled Haynes fans call for more recommendations afterMay December .
