The film is reminiscent of the real-life scandal between former teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau.
Netflix has released the official first look at director Todd Haynes' 10th feature film, May December, which stars Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton.
The film follows Elizabeth (Portman), a TV star who travels to Maine to research the relationship between Gracie (Moore) -- whom she will be playing in a biopic -- and Gracie's far younger husband, Joe (Melton).
The official synopsis for May December teases, "Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple (Julianne Moore, Charles Melton) buckles under the pressure when an actress (Portman) arrives to do research for a film about their past."
The film is reminiscent of the real-life scandal between former teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau.
In 1997, Letourneau was convicted of second-degree child rape for her relationship with her then-sixth-grade student, Fualaau. She was pregnant with her and Fualaau's first child at the time of her arrest.
After a second arrest for a parole violation and a second child together, Letourneau and Fualaau eventually went on to get married in 2005, when Fualaau was of legal age. The two divorced in 2020, and Letourneau died later that year. She was 58.
In Netflix's May December, Moore’s character Gracie also served prison time for her inappropriate relationship with Melton's character, Joe, an underaged teen -- and, just like Letourneau and Fualaau, they marry and move away to raise their family and live quietly.
In the film, however, as Portman's character Elizabeth attempts to get closer to the family, the uncomfortable facts of their scandal unfurl, causing difficult, long-dormant emotions to resurface.
May December was a buzz-worthy success at the Cannes Film Festival and after an all-night bidding war, the film's North American rights were sold to Netflix for $11 million.
Fans can watch Todd Haynes’ May December on Netflix on Dec. 1 and in select theaters in November.
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