How Netflix’s ‘May December’ Mirrors the Mary Kay Letourneau Tabloid Sex Scandal

Andrew Haigh’s drama All of Us Strangers has landed nine London Critics’ Circle Awards nominations, ahead of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which has scored seven.

Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal are actors whose craft inspires as much admiration as the finished product on-screen. Portman, whose career now spans more than 30 years, including films like “Black Swan” and “Thor: Love and Thunder,” keeps us enthralled — this time, with her simmering performance in Todd Haynes’ psychodrama “May December.” The Oscar winner portrays an actress preparing to play a tabloid fascination (Julianne Moore), who became romantically involved with her husband (Charles Melton) when he was 13.

In response to his Golden Globe nomination Monday for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for May December, Charles Melton starts the conversation with gratitude towards his mother, Sukyong Melton, who he recently deemed his hero in a heartfelt speech while being honored at the Critics Choice Celebration of Black, Latino & AAPI Achievements last week. Though he admits to sleeping through the ceremony and being informed by his team about the nomination, he made sure to call her as soon as he found out. “She was so proud, and I am so happy.” Melton said. 

The movie May December is expected to receive a lot of award nominations this season, but one thing might surprise you.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Is “May December” camp or not? That’s the question the internet is currently obsessing over, but whether you fall on the “definitely” or “no, rude question!” side, one clue can be found in the dark comedy’s notably prominent score by Marcelo Zavros. Ten minutes into the Todd Haynes movie that’s loosely based on the story of Mary Kay Letournau, Julianne Moore, playing Gracie, the wife and mother, opens the fridge while getting ready for a family barbecue. As she casually comments, “I don’t think we have enough hot dogs,” the lush chords familiar from the 1971 movie “The Go-Between” burst loudly into the scene, lending the mundane moment an unexpected melodramatic punch.

The American Film Institute has announced their annual year-end top 10 lists and, as always, it was filled with several awards contenders. This year’s crop of film honorees includes “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “May December,” “Oppenheimer,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things” and “Spider-Man: Across the Universe.” The television selections are “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Beef,” “Jury Duty,” “The Last of Us,” “The Morning Show,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Poker Face,” “Reservation Dogs” and “Succession.” READ MORE: “American Fiction,” “May December” and “Past Lives” top 2024 Spirit Awards Nominations It should be noted, that the AFI committee is not always the best predictor for a Best Picture nomination.

The list of the 10 films chosen for the prestigious AFI Awards is out, and it is good news for Barbenheimer.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The “Barbenheimer” craze continues with Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” being named among AFI Awards 2023 top 10 best films of the year. Netflix led studios with two movies making the list — Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” and Todd Haynes’ black comedy “May December.” With an eclectic mix of critically acclaimed and consumer friendly titles, the list of top movies also includes films by newcomers (Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” and Celine Song’s “Past Lives”), veterans (Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers”) and stylish visionaries (Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” and Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with the Todd Haynes-directed May December starring Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton. It made a splash at Cannes this year when the darkly comedic and complex feature, loosely based on the story of Mary Kay Letourneau, was picked up by Netflix in a splashy $11 million rights deal.

The Sundance Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary in January and it’s no surprise that some legendary Park City filmmakers are returning with new films for the 2024 edition. Among the alumni are Steven Soderbergh, whose landmark film “Sex, Lies and Videotape” debuted at the 1989 fest; Debra Granik, whose Best Picture nominated “Winter’s Bone” won the Grand Jury Dramatic prize at the 2010 festival; and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who will premiere their fourth movie at Sundance following 2006’s “Half Nelson,” 2008’s “Sugar” and 2015’s “Mississippi Grind.” READ MORE: “American Fiction,” “May December,” and “Past Lives” Top 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards Soderbergh’s latest effort is “Presence,” starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox.

Charles Melton is opening up about wearing a prosthetic for a scene in his new movie May December.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Netflix’s “May December” In Netflix’s “May December,” one of the most memorable scenes features Joe Yoo (played by Charles Melton) arriving at the hotel to deliver a letter from his wife Gracie (Julianne Moore) to actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman). Their encounter leads to a brief yet intense sexual liaison on the floor, culminating in a conspicuous silhouette shot of Joe’s penis. Amid Samy Burch’s narrative brilliance and Todd Haynes’ tantalizing direction, one might imagine Melton — known for his role in The CW’s “Riverdale” — felt immense pressure acting opposite Oscar winner Portman, who also produced the film.

The full list of nominations for the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards has been announced!

The Gotham Awards, the New York wing of the indie film world, has already handed out its year-end honors and now it’s time for the West Coast to have their say. Bright and early this morning, Film Independent revealed the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards nominees, and, no surprise, Celine Song’s “Past Lives” was at the top of the list with five nominations.

In what is an annual tradition, A24 led all nominations at this morning’s 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations with 11 nods while their movie Past Lives, along with Netflix’s May December and Amazon MGM’s American Fiction all tied for the most nominations with five apiece.

Jordan Moreau The 2024 Independent Spirit Awards nominations, which honor TV and indie films with smaller budgets, were announced Tuesday morning. Joel Kim Booster and Natalie Morales revealed the nominations. “Saturday Night Live” alum Aidy Bryant will host the awards show on Feb.

Charles Melton was honored at the Critics Choice Celebration of Black, Latino & AAPI Achievements and broke accepting his award.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, a day before the National Board of Review will weigh in on its selections for the best films and performances of 2023. They’ll be following the New York Film Critics Circle who kicked off the season last week by crowning Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” as its top choice. Its West Coast counterpart, Los Angeles Film Critics, will drop their choices on Sunday.

Kate Middleton secretly brought two of her three children — Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — to a taping of the UK’s version of “Dancing With the Stars” on Saturday.The future queen appeared in great spirits despite being recently named — alongside father-in-law King Charles III — as one of the royal family members who allegedly questioned the color of Prince Harry’s son’s skin prior to his birth, which was revealed in the Dutch translation of the book, “Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survial” by Omid Scobie.Instead, Kate put on a brave face as producers of the show, called “Strictly Come Dancing,” introduced her to BBC hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, while Louis put on a toy crown, the Sun reports.Not to be outdone, older sister Charlotte also joined Louis by sitting in a judge’s seat and held up paddles with scores on them.Kate, 41, “took pictures of the children in the judges’ seats,” a source told the outlet. “She seemed really relaxed and was all smiles,” the source added.

Netflix this month, as the platform undergoes a regular rotation.While Netflix are adding a full range of fresh new titles to the platform this December, including Maestro, May December, and Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget, they are also removing a large selection for both the UK and US.For a full list of which titles are being removed from UK Netflix this month, take a look at the below (via What’s On Netflix).December 1A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019)As Good as It Gets (1997)Baby Dolls (2019)Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)Call the Midwife (one season)Ghost Town (2008)High-End Yaariyan (2019)The Human Factor (2019)Jindua (2017)Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)Lakeeran (2016)The Lazarus Project (2008)The Ledge (2022)Mahi NRI (2017)mANTO (2018)Pain & Gain (2013)Qismat (2018)Rainbow Time (2016)Return To The Blue Lagoon (1991)Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991)Sad Hill Unearthed (2017)Sausage Party (2016)Seven Years In Tibet (1997)Shooter (2007)Spanglish (2007)Stand By Me (1986)Stuart Little (1999)Stuart Little 2 (2002)Teefa In Trouble (2018)Thug Life (2017)U-Turn (2020)Up In The Air (2009)The Whole Nine Yards (2000)Young Adult (2011)December 2Couples Come Dine With Me (two seasons)For The Love Of Spock (2016)The Guest (one season)Knightfall (two seasons)Man Of Steel (2013)Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir (five easons)Ready Steady Cook (one season)Travel Man: 48 Hours In (one season)December 3Between Maybes (2019)Brother In Love (2019)Bygones Be Bygones (2017)Deliha 2 (2018)Kids On The Block (2019)Kill Me If You Dare (2019)Locked On You (2018)Love, Surreal, And Odd (2017)Must Be… Love (2013)My Travel Buddy 2 (2018)December 4You Are My Home (2020December 5Godzilla (2014)December 6Hymn Of Death (on