Although the story is fictional, writer Samy Burch revealed that she got inspired from Mary Kay Letourneau’s case from the ‘90s
A still of Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore from May December
Last Updated: 05.25 AM, Nov 19, 2023
May December is a latest romance-comedy drama, which was released on November 17 in limited theatres in the US. It premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023, where the distribution rights were bought by Netflix for $11 million, the largest deal of the festival.
The story
May December follows an actress, who travels to Georgia to meet and study the life of the controversial woman she is set to play in a movie. Directed by Todd Haynes and written by Samy Burch, the movie stars Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, D.W. Moffett, Piper Curda, Elizabeth Yu, Gabriel Chung, Cory Michael Smith, and Lawrence Aranclo.
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Inspired from Letourneau's criminal case
The story of May December is partially inspired from Mary Kay Letourneau’s life, who was an American sex offender and teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child. Mary took her last breath in July 2020. The child, Vili Fualaau, was 12 years old, when sexual relations first occurred. He had been her sixth-grade student at an elementary school in Burien, Washington. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's daughter.
After releasing in limited theatres, May December is now gearing up for its OTT release on Netflix on December 1, 2023.