May December

 

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in “May December.” Photo by Francois Duhamel / courtesy of Netflix via IMDB.com

Walking a thin line between elegant and creepy, Todd Haynes' “May December” is a suspenseful psychological maze that leaves you knowing less than you did when you started.

Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman star, playing two versions of the same person. She's Gracie Atherton-Yoo, who made tabloid and People Magazine covers years earlier when she seduced a coworker in the pet store where they both had jobs. She was in her mid-30s at the time; her co-worker, Joe Yoo, was 13.

She gave birth to their child in jail. After her release she wed the boy, and they're still married with more kids a quarter-century later.

Julianne plays the real Gracie. Natalie is TV star Elizabeth Berry, who will be playing Gracie in an upcoming movie. She has come to Gracie's beachfront home in scenic Savannah to research the role.

Charles Melton plays hunky husband Joe, who's all grown up now. He's about the same age as Elizabeth, in fact.

If this is sounding vaguely familiar in a tawdry tabloid way, it's because it was inspired by the true story of elementary school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau who went to prison in the 1990s for raping a 12-year-old student in her class. She married him on her release.

Writers Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik aren't trying to tell her story, but rather to untangle its hairball of intertwined emotions. The relationship between actress and subject is pretty weird to begin with. (I must have missed the part in the script about why Gracie and Joe agreed to the deal in the first place.)

But even as Portman and Moore merge visually on-screen, sometimes with only the color of their hair to tell them apart, they're obviously at cross purposes. Gracie is a sly one, or maybe just batshit nuts. Under the guise of artistic process, it's not hard to notice that the TV star is here to steal her soul. 

Oscar winners Portman and Moore have a field day with the material, playing cat and mouse, continually switching which one is the aggressor. Haynes is a wily observer of their potentially lethal interplay, enhancing the increasingly sensual undercurrents with mirrors and amazing cinematic inflection points.

It's all about playing roles … and playing each other.

Husband Joe gets in on the volatile sexual chemistry, too. Seemingly an innocent victim when the relationship began, he now seems to be the prize in the undeclared catfight. Whether he will be collateral damage before it's over is another thread in Haynes' kinky mystery.

With notebook always in hand, the actress continues probing. Gracie's ex (Chris Tenzis), the kids they had together, the pet store owner, the lawyer in Gracie's trial – she interviews them all, trying to find the pieces Gracie won't share. The detective work sends her, and the audience, down lots of rabbit holes. 

Characters imprisoned – metaphorically if not literally – for their sexual inclinations is familiar territory for award-winning director Haynes. In his “Far From Heaven” in 2002, Dennis Quaid played a perfect '50s husband hiding his homosexuality from his wife, also played by Julianne Moore. Haynes' award-winning “Carol” in 2015 follows a developing relationship between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, set once again against the sternly disapproving social norms of 1950s Manhattan.

Haynes also directed Blanchett in “I'm Not There,” where she was one of six actors (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere among them) portraying Bob Dylan. After that, having just two actresses do one character is child's play.

As much as Haynes is a deep diver into dangerous unsettling emotional places, he is also an impeccable visual artist paying homage to cinematic glories of bygone eras. He's fond of saturated colors and lush orchestrations. 

Interspersing closeups of cocoons evolving into butterflies – one of the script's sub-themes – with gauzy Savannah landscapes and interiors, “May December” is as gorgeous as its stars to just gaze at.

Netflix, which premieres the film Friday, is billing “May December” as a comedy drama. That may be for Golden Globe consideration, which has separate categories for each.

But finding the humor is a bit of a stretch. Whatever laughter it generates is the nervous kind, discovering yourself in an uncomfortable situation just beyond your grasp, hoping you're not the butt of the joke.