Netflix’s newest buzzy awards season drama has one of the major streaming platform’s highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of the entire year.

Summary

May December, directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, has one of Netflix’s highest Rotten Tomatoes scores this year at 92%. The movie tells the story of Gracie, a former teacher imprisoned for an affair with her student, and a wrench is thrown into her relationship with Joe when actress Elizabeth Berry comes to study her. With 215 different critics’ reviews, May December’s high score has earned it the title of Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

May December has one of Netflix’s best Rotten Tomatoes scores of the year. The new drama from Carol director Todd Haynes stars Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a former teacher who was imprisoned for a period after she was discovered having an affair with her 13-year-old student Joe (Charles Melton). Twenty-three years later, actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) comes to study Gracie because she will be portraying her in an upcoming movie, but her arrival throws a wrench into the relationship between Gracie and Joe.

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated a score for Netflix’s May December out of 215 different critics’ reviews. While the score could fluctuate slightly as more reviews are added, at the time of writing it is standing at a near-perfect 92%. The score is so high, and derived from so many unique reviews, that the site has determined the movie to be Certified Fresh.

Will May December Be An Oscars Contender?

The decorated May December cast and director have already ignited Oscar buzz around the Netflix drama. Its high Rotten Tomatoes score combined with a perfectly-timed awards season release could prove to work to the movie’s advantage on that front. However, it remains to be seen if it gets nominated for any major awards and, if so, which ones.

The most likely opportunities for the movie to receive Oscar nominations would be in the acting and directing categories. Although Haynes himself has only been nominated once in 2003 for the screenplay for Far from Heaven, he previously directed Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara to Oscar nominations for 2015’s Carol. Moore and Portman could also be strong contenders, as both already have one Oscar apiece. However, Charles Melton could very well be a breakout nomination from the movie for providing the emotional core of the May December true story.

While May December is a fictionalized story, it is based on the real-life tabloid figure Mary Kay Letourneau.

It’s only a matter of time before the 2024 Oscar nominations are formally announced. However, January’s Golden Globes will likely be an important barometer of how well May December is performing with awards bodies. While the Golden Globes are still recovering from recent controversies and restructuring that led them to be conducted off the air in 2022, they are still somewhat seen as a trendsetter for how the rest of the awards season is going to shape up.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

May December Release Date: 2023-12-01 Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton Rating: R Runtime: 113 Minutes Genres: Drama, Romance Writers: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik Studio(s): Gloria Sanchez Productions, Killer Films, MountainA Distributor(s): Netflix