Warning: Discussion of child grooming and rape.
Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the stars of Netflix’s May December, are sticking up for the unsettling drama with their latest response to claims it’s exploiting an actual true-crime story.
While director Todd Haynes's 2023 film is an original story with fictional characters, its plot's eerie similarities to actual events in a 1997 case of second-degree rape of a child have sparked debate.
In the film, Natalie portrays actor Elizabeth Berry, who shadows Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne), a woman who infamously began a 23-year-long relationship with her husband, Joe (Charles Melton), when he was only 13.
From start to finish, May December was a trip, which seems to be the theme of 2023 with films like Saltburn, Poor Things, and Anatomy of a Fall.
The most jarring thing about May December is its similarities to the real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau.
Similar to the film, 34-year-old Mary Kay had an illegal relationship with Vili when he was only 12 years old. She went to prison, gave birth to their first child, and they continued their relationship following her release.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Vili revealed that he was not too pleased with May December's similarities to his real life. "I'm still alive and well," Vili said. "If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story."
Now, the film's stars have respectfully fired back to defend the movie. "It's not based on them," Natalie told Entertainment Tonight at the 2024 Golden Globes.
"Obviously, their story influenced the culture that we all grew up in and influenced the idea. But it's fictional characters that are really brought to life by Julianne Moore and Charles Melton so beautifully. It's its own story; it's not meant to be a biopic."
Julianne shared the same sentiment as her costar. "Aww, I'm very sorry that [Vili] feels that way," she said. "I mean, Todd [Haynes] was always very clear when we were working on this movie that this was an original story, this was a story about these characters. So that's how we looked at it, too. This was our document, we created these characters from the page and together."
Natalie, Julianne, and Charles have all been recognized for their performances and earned several nominations for May December — but is it fair to say that Vili Fualaau is justified in his criticism of the movie?
Do you see May December as an original story, or is it another opportunity to capitalize off a true-crime sensation?
Let me know what you think in the comments.