May December
Warning : This post contains despoiler for May December
Summary
Natalie Portman has had a long and storeyed career , but only two of her motion-picture show have been similar in their grim endings . May Decembersees Portman playing an actress , Elizabeth , who travel to meet the real - living cleaning lady she ’s portraying ( Julianne Moore ) in a moving-picture show . Elizabeth may seem like her aim are good ones , but her discharge takes a dark turn that alters the way viewers see her and what it is she is trying to do . To be indisputable , the actress has done her fair part of dramatic roles , but seldom have they complemented each other in the way Todd Haynes’May Decemberdoes with Portman ’s bad revulsion hit .
May Decemberendswith Portman and Moore ’s character have a stand - off , while Charles Melton ’s Joe is see yell on the sidelines . The flick does n’t explain what in the end happen to Joe , or if he take in the decision to leave Gracie , but Elizabeth begins production on her movie and there ’s something quite threatening about catch her as she becomes more like Gracie with each take . As an actress , Portman herself must substantiate the role of her character , butMay Decemberso closely resemblesDarren Aronofsky’sBlack Swanmore than any of her works have in the past .
May December Is The Darkest Ending For A Natalie Portman Character Since Black Swan
May Decemberdeals with some pretty dark themes , and its cease certainly purports Elizabeth as a calculative manipulator . She ’s someone who will do whatever it submit to get what she want , and it ’s incisively this that likens the reference ’s terminate inMay Decemberto that of Portman ’s character reference inBlack Swan , the psychological horror film from 2010 . InBlack Swan , Portman ’s Nina pang herself , having fully transform into the swan she embodies in the concert dance . Similarly , Nina goes to great lengths to check a sodding performance , andBlack Swan’sendingechoesMay December’sso eerily in that common sense .
It ’s not that the films have a interchangeable plot , but their several endings are haunt and discompose in their execution of instrument . They stand apart , but complement each other really well , especially in condition of Portman ’s characters , their action at law , and where they end up thanks to the course they took to get there . May December’sending showswhat Elizabeth is willing to do for her function , no matter who she spite . The moving-picture show itself is about what someone is willing to do to make art , and the final moments , of Elizabeth set about to score a 13 - yr - quondam , andBlack Swan’sfinal jibe showcase the darkness Portman ’s eccentric tap into to get there .
Natalie Portman’s May December & Black Swan Characters Share Shocking Similarities
Both of Natalie Portman ’s character have obsessive traits . Nina and Elizabeth are transfixed by their roles , and they try perfection within their slyness . This obsession causes them both to become unfeeling and detached , so absorbed in getting their performance right that they disregard all else . Elizabeth ’s dedication to portray Gracie onscreen extend her towards method acting . As she seeks to hone the conquest tantrum at the end ofMay December , her method acting pushes her to seek intimate chemistry with a 13 - year - sometime — that ’s how much she wants to get the use of Gracie right . She wants it to look and finger real , even as her action mechanism become unsettling to watch .
Meanwhile , Nina ’s obsession with perfecting her ballet public presentation sees her bleeding out from a self - inflicted stab wound . LikeMay December’sElizabeth , Nina fundamentally go full method acting to perfect her performance , no matter the personal cost . Despite the strong-arm pain and consequences , Nina consider her actions inBlack Swanwere all-important to achieving the perfection she sought in the concert dance purpose . In both respects , the actress ’ theatrical role transform into something else entirely to reach something almost otherworldly . They require more , and so they throw themselves into their work to get there , even if it intend going past the item of no return .
