May December, One Of The Best Films Of The Year, Just Got Screwed At The Oscars
Short of "Oppenheimer," there's no film released in 2023 that I enjoyed more than Todd Haynes' "May December" — so of course it's been nearly shut out by the Academy for the 96th Oscars.
It's not a total wash, since "May December" earned a nomination for Original Screenplay. Yet as deserving as Samy Burch's writing is of that honor, the nomination feels like an insufficient offer of consolation. "May December" is not named among the Best Picture nominees, nor is Todd Haynes nominated for Best Director. Marcelo Zavros' score, reworked from Michael Legrand's in "The Go-Between," was shut out even as it accentuates the film's melodrama and dark comic timing.
Most galling is its total absence from the acting categories, even though the movie lives and dies on its three central performances: Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, and Charles Melton.
"May December" is about Gracie (Moore) and Joe Yoo (Melton), a married couple with a wide age gap; they met when Joe was in middle school and Gracie groomed him. Decades later, actress Elizabeth Berry (Portman) comes slithering into their lives to prepare for her performance as Gracie in a movie.
Released by Netflix on December 1, 2023, with a limited theatrical window beforehand, the film turned into a surprise popular hit (at least going by anecdotal social media buzz) despite the repellant subject matter. What makes these snubs extra disappointing is that the actors have been nominated elsewhere; Melton especially was nominated at several critics' associations (winning a few) and at the Golden Globes. After "May December" started streaming on Netflix, I remember chatter that he could even upstage the presumptive Best Supporting Actor favorite, Robert Downey Jr. for "Oppenheimer." He'd have deserved it, as playing Joe reveals the depths of his talents (furnished on "Riverdale"). But as "The Banshees of Inisherin" said so perfectly: There goes that dream.
Films about acting
It's important to remember that the acting nominations for the Oscars are decided on by actors themselves. One explanation that's been raised for the shut-out is that "May December" struck a nerve.
"May December" is one of the latest films to satirize true crime as entertainment; Elizabeth may not be a predator in quite the same way as Gracie, but she's still exploiting Joe for her own ends. She crosses boundaries aplenty with the excuse of her craft, yet the film's final scene implies all this work will be used for little more than a trashy TV movie; one that has nothing to really say or reveal about what happened with Gracie and Joe.
The monologue is one of the most ubiquitous spotlights an actor can have; an entire scene's success rests on their performance and neither the camera nor audience can look away. America Ferrera, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Barbie," definitely got there by the strength of her monologue about the double bind of womanhood. "May December" strikes at this, too; in her seduction of Joe, Elizabeth gets him to hand over a private letter Gracie wrote him 20-plus years ago. She reads it aloud in front of a mirror (the camera) and we see how skin-crawling her process for getting into character is.
I think it is telling that the accolades that "May December" has earned seem to come mostly from Critics' Associations. People who have one degree of distance from filmmaking can appreciate the movie without it hitting unflatteringly close to home.
"May December" is streaming on Netflix.