‘May December’ debuted to acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival

By Daniela Creamer, from Cannes

may decemberdebuted on Saturday, May 20 at the Cannes Film Festival, to praise and a standing ovation of over 6 minutes.

A romantic drama with a scandalous story directed by Todd Haynes. Starring Julianne Moore (Gracie) and Charles Melton (Joe), whose character was just 13 years old when the two fell in love. While Natalie Portman plays Elizabeth, an actress who travels to Georgia to learn about December’s life, who she will play in a movie.

The marriage formed by Gracie and Joe has a 20-year age difference and inspired a major national scandal. They plan to send their daughters to college, and everything begins to unravel as Portman delves deeper into her past.

“Women are not a minority group. We are 50% of the population. That’s why it’s important that they treat us that way,” Julianne Moore said at the press conference at the Grand Palais. “An age difference is one thing, but the relationship between an adult and a child is quite another.” When is age inappropriate? when people are at different stages of development, when one of them is not an adult. That’s why we have limits on that.’ “The reason this movie feels so dangerous to watch is because people don’t know where someone’s boundaries are, and that’s scary,” the actress said.

The truth is that there was no shortage of material to inspire me. We had every inspirational tabloid out there at the time. I remember we even had a book with a crazy title, Punished by love. All those resources were within our reach and it served as a great base,” says Natalie Portman. “I think it’s kind of an exploration of the different roles we play in different environments.”

“For example, here in Cannes it is mandatory for women to wear heels on the red carpet, which to me is a complete discrepancy, even here, the different ways we as women are expected to behave at this festival compared to men … how we should look, how we should behave.’ “Expectations about you are different all the time. It affects how you behave, whether you accept it or reject it. You are defined by the social structures around you,” he said.

Both actresses expressed their full appreciation for playing just human females in this production, stating that: “It’s incredible to be part of a movie, where you find two very complex female characters, full of delightful conflict.” concluded Portman.