The Inspiration Behind the Upcoming Todd Haynes Film ‘May December’

Known to experiment with form and narrative structure while spotlighting societal issues and complex interpersonal dynamics, the filmmaker behind Far From Heaven, Dark Waters, Carol, and The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes, is back to direct May December. The film, co-written by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik — who previously worked together on Crown Prince and All You Can Eat — will screen at the New York Film Festival on September 29, 2023, and premiere in select theaters on November 17. 

Starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the movie follows Hollywood actress Elizabeth Berry (Portman) who, in preparing for her upcoming role, travels to meet a couple that, 20 years prior, was at the center of a notorious tabloid romance. As for the infamous escapade: Moore portrays a woman who, at 36 years of age, started an affair with a pre-adolescent boy who walked into her pet store looking for a job the summer after seventh grade. 

The recently-dropped trailer for May December — a title that somewhat blithely plays on the age-old term for a relationship between two individuals with a sizable age gap — is destined to leave viewers evaluating their own moral compasses and contemplating the intricacies tied to grooming. 

As Joe (Charles Melton) says, 20 years following the start of his relationship with Gracie (Moore), people see him as a victim, but “he wanted it.” Portman’s character says in the trailer, “It’s the morally gray areas that are interesting” when asked why she would want to play someone she sees as a “bad person. Labeled a “Wickedly complex delight” by Vanity Fair, it seems that audiences are in for yet another Todd Haynes masterpiece that will leave you questioning all the convictions you hold dear. Yet, what inspired the twisted story? 

Is ‘May December’ based on a true story?

The main characters in May December are all fictitious, so personality traits, careers, and specific narrative events have been developed for dramatic purposes. That being said, the backstory is seemingly inspired by the relationship between Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, which dominated the news cycle in the ‘90s. 

Letourneau was Fualaau’s sixth-grade teacher, but, based on the pet store declaration in the movie, the teacher-student dynamic has been swapped out for something, though less based in history, also less trope-y. 

The case received national attention and Letourneau went on to plead guilty for two counts of felony second-degree rape. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau’s first child. After three months in prison, she was released, but she was soon caught in a car with Fualaau (violating her plea agreement) and was sent back to prison. She gave birth to his second child while imprisoned as well. She was in jail from 1998 to 2004 and, upon her release, the two got married in 2005. The marriage lasted 14 years until their separation in 2019. 

As for the film, tabloid headlines suggest that Moore’s character will also give birth in prison, with a headline that flashes across the screen reading “baby born behind bars.” The trailer also makes clear that the actress’s arrival will shake the foundation between Joe and Gracie, leading them to question their love as Berry crawls under Gracie’s skin. 

Speaking of the film, and the inner lives of the primary characters, Haynes told the Los Angeles Times:

“The whole way that Joe’s character is drawn as somebody who is going to rescue the damsel, the princess, who is living in a kind of discontent in her domestic life. It’s almost like a corrupt, twisted kind of fairy tale. And it was driven by Julianne. It was her insistence in looking back at that source material.”

May December premieres in select theaters on November 17, 2023, and will be available to stream on Netflix on December 1.