What filmmaking techniques does May December use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in May December (2023): Double Narrative Layer, Ironic Pop Music Score, Deliberate Close-Up Performance and Retroactive Reframing Revelation.

Who directed May December?

Todd Haynes directed May December, released in 2023. CineCode also covers Safe (1995), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Far from Heaven (2002), I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017).

What films are similar to May December?

Films that share techniques with May December include Us (2019), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Drama

May December

Todd Haynes, 2023

An actress is preparing to play a woman who had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. She visits the couple, now both adults, to research the role, and her presence shakes the life they built around the original scandal. Todd Haynes' film is a melodrama where everyone is performing, and performing is also its subject.

2 Narrative 1 Sound 1 Cinematography

At a glance

May December is a 2023 drama film directed by Todd Haynes. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 sound and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Us uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Double Narrative Layer

Running 2 layers at once: the story and a commentary on how that story is being told, such as its own broadcast. The layers comment on each other and make you complicit in the watching.

How this film uses it

The film tells 2 stories at once. One is Gracie's life. The other is Elizabeth building a performance of Gracie's life. Every scene has the drama of what happens in it, and you are also watching a woman get studied and copied.

Where to see it

Elizabeth mirroring Gracie's gestures and speech patterns. The actress soaks up her subject, and the film is as interested in that process as it is in Gracie herself.

Sound

Ironic Pop Music Score

Playing a cheerful or familiar pop song over violence or moral disaster. The gap between the song and the image creates dark comedy and political commentary.

How this film uses it

Throughout May December, Marcelo Zarvos reuses Michel Legrand's score from The Go-Between, which is itself a film about inappropriate desire. The borrowed romantic music plays over scenes of manipulation and people lying to themselves. The mismatch is fairly uncomfortable to sit in.

Where to see it

The swelling Legrand theme arriving over scenes of Elizabeth's research. The big romantic score makes her predatory way of working sound like a love story.

Cinematography

Deliberate Close-Up Performance

Holding a close-up on an actor's face long enough to catch tiny changes in expression. You read what the character is thinking from details a wider shot would miss.

How this film uses it

Haynes films Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in long close-ups, which are shots that fill the screen with a face. The camera watches their faces watch each other. The drama is in the small changes of expression, as each woman performs while the other one studies her.

Where to see it

Gracie and Elizabeth applying the same lipstick in a mirror. The close-up holds both women's faces, and by now you can't tell the performer from her subject.

Narrative

Retroactive Reframing Revelation

Saving a reveal for the climax that changes the meaning of every scene before it. You have to rebuild the whole film in your head with the new knowledge.

How this film uses it

In the final act, you learn that Gracie's calm home life is a performance of innocence, and keeping it up costs her a lot. Joe breaks down and asks whether he was too young, and Gracie insists he seduced her. Elizabeth has taken on the performance and the cost along with it. You are left unsure who the film was about.

Where to see it

Joe's tearful confrontation with Gracie in the final scenes. Her composure held the whole film together, and now you see what it always was. It was a performance by a person who would prefer not to be examined.

Questions

May December: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does May December use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in May December (2023): Double Narrative Layer, Ironic Pop Music Score, Deliberate Close-Up Performance and Retroactive Reframing Revelation.
Who directed May December?: Todd Haynes directed May December, released in 2023. CineCode also covers Safe (1995), Velvet Goldmine (1998), Far from Heaven (2002), I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017).
What films are similar to May December?: Films that share techniques with May December include Us (2019), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Keep watching