i felt uncomfortable for 90% of this movie, and the other 10% was me feeling guilty for enjoying the campiness and eccentricity of it, mostly represented by natalie portman's character. she's soooo off-putting. sick and twisted. anyways, charles melton (riverdale's best boy, i miss that goof) is amazing. his scenes are so heartbreaking... you need to run away, boy. just run away :(

Character study at it's finest. Very interesting dynamics between the members of the family and a script that creates a weird circumstance between Portman and Moore's characters that kept me glued to the screen. Strong themes of trauma and morality. ***May December*** poses interesting questions on age gap relationships(?) It has a lot to say and demands a second viewing to get all the symbolisms. I kinda didn't want it to end, that's how interesting I found it.

Filled with visually creative shots like the mirror scene at the beginning with Natalie Portman between two Julianne Moore's, one of my favorites. One of the best scores i've heard this year, nicely done lighting, atmospheric, lots of tension and three awesome performances (favorite was Natalie Portman, I watched that monologue three times). A weird tone for the subject matter that could totally be off-putting for some but for me... it works! I wanted more of a confrontation towards the end, something more memorable, but the character arcs and themes did come full circle and that's satisfying.

No doubt that Natalie Portman was great here, but it just didn't do it for me.

Just slow and boring. Waste of some excellent actors.

An off putting real story. The acting was exceptional (especially Charles Melton) and the score made the movie even more suspenseful. Probably Todd Haynes' best work since Carol.

The campy touches are a bit weird for what is essentially this disturbing psychological drama, besides that this is an interesting film about age gaps and tabloid sensationalism. Really interesting score, as well as some fantastic acting from our three leads that'll have everyone disagreeing about who's giving the best performance. The visuals and directing are also well done, leaning a little more to the arthouse side of Haynes' filmography, so some interpretation is needed in order to get to the bottom of it. Overall, I don't think it's his strongest or tightest work, but definitely one of the better films I've seen this year.

7/10

Melton is the star of this, really conveying a man who never got to truly grow up because his childhood was stolen, and how it’s left him a child, a teen, and an adult who’s unable to thrive as any of those things. I enjoyed the dark camp, right down to the music and the audio stings. I think it didn’t hit the crescendo I was hoping for, and neither Portman or Moore quite equal Melton in performance or material. But Melton alone would make this worth the watch.

Interesting character study that provides a lot of nuanced questions and answers. Of course the star of the movie is not the two female leads, even though they are both exceptional, rather the male lead who is kind of left in the middle of everything.

Did not realize this was based on a true story... that's wild

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay_Letourneau

Fine acting elevates this surprisingly muted drama.

Complex melodrama with many different tonal shifts, some of which worked for me, others which didn't.
I think there is some great individual scenes and great performances but the overall flow didn't work as well for me as others. Only one character has any real growth, but I think that is one of the points. Playing on multiple tropes with commentary on Hollywood and tabloid sensationalism and the reality of true crime drama at its core.

Charles Melton and Natalie Portman would be the standout performances for me. There is an interesting story there, with as many layers as the characters themselves have and it certainly felt like a fresh idea it just didn't come together for me as much as I would have liked.

That said, I do expect there to be an audience for this that enjoys it vastly more than myself based on the audience at the screening I saw it at. I enjoyed it but not as much as others will I suspect.