Cast of May December (2023): Full Cast & Character Guide

Some stories refuse to sit still. They get retold, reexamined, and eventually turned into movies that ask harder questions than the headlines ever did. Todd Haynes’ May December does exactly that — taking the bones of a real-life tabloid scandal and building a film that’s less about judgment and more about the uncomfortable space between performance and truth.

Release year: 2023 ·
Director: Todd Haynes ·
Lead actors: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton ·
Age gap portrayed: 36 years (Gracie 50s, Joe 13 at start) ·
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% (critics), 77% (audience)

Five key facts, one pattern: the film’s raw material is a documented scandal, but every layer of storytelling adds a new question about consent, memory, and performance.

The film’s key details all reinforce the same tension between documented fact and narrative ambiguity.

What is the point of the movie May December?

The moral ambiguity of victim and predator

• The film refuses to label Gracie as simply a villain or Joe as simply a victim (Netflix Tudum)
• Elizabeth’s investigation into Gracie’s life mirrors the audience’s own voyeurism (Collider analysis)
• The script by Samy Burch deliberately blurs lines between predator and prey (Business Insider)

At its core, May December is a film about the stories we tell ourselves to live with the choices we’ve made. Gracie has constructed a narrative of a love story; Elizabeth is there to pick it apart. The film doesn’t take sides — it watches both women play their roles and asks which one is more honest.

Exploitation of fiction versus reality

• Elizabeth is making a movie about Gracie’s life, but she treats the people involved as characters, not people (Netflix Tudum)
• The film-within-a-film structure critiques how media recycles trauma for entertainment (ScreenRant analysis)
• Todd Haynes has described the film as a meditation on “the performance of everyday life” (Netflix Tudum)

The implication: every retelling of a true story is a kind of exploitation. May December doesn’t exempt itself from that critique — it leans into it, forcing the viewer to sit with their own curiosity and ask whether they’re here for the story or for the scandal.

Who are the cast and characters of May December?

Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry

• Portman plays a TV actress preparing to portray Gracie Atherton-Yoo in an independent film (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)
• Elizabeth visits Savannah, Georgia, to shadow Gracie and her family ahead of shooting (Netflix Tudum)
• Portman also served as a producer on the film (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)

Portman’s Elizabeth is a study in controlled performance. She speaks in a soft, investigative tone, watching Gracie’s every move with the detachment of a documentarian — until that detachment cracks.

Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yoo

• Moore portrays Gracie, a woman who began a relationship with a 13-year-old boy while in her mid-30s (Netflix Tudum)
• Gracie is now in her late 50s, married to Joe, and fiercely protective of the narrative she has built (Business Insider)
• Moore submitted for Best Actress consideration at the Oscars for this role (Rotten Tomatoes)

Moore’s Gracie is unsettling precisely because she seems so ordinary. She bakes cakes, tends to her garden, and speaks of her marriage as a fairy tale. The horror is in the normalcy.

Charles Melton as Joe Yoo

• Melton plays Joe, the young husband who was 13 when his relationship with Gracie began and is now in his mid-30s (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)
• He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Rotten Tomatoes)
• His performance is widely regarded as the film’s breakout (Rotten Tomatoes)

Melton’s Joe is the quiet center of the film. He speaks little, but his face carries the weight of a man who is only beginning to understand what happened to him. Critics have noted that his performance transforms the film from a melodrama into a tragedy.

What is the age gap in May December and why is it called that?

Literal age gap: 36 years

• Gracie was 36 and Joe was 13 when their relationship began (Netflix Tudum)
• ScreenRant reports the age gap is 23 years in the film’s present timeline (ScreenRant)
• Business Insider confirms the couple has a 23-year age gap in the current timeline (Business Insider)
• Dexerto notes that 23 years later, Gracie is almost 60 and Joe is 36, with three children (Dexerto)

The age gap is not just a number in this film — it’s the entire ethical fault line. The relationship began with a 36-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy, which is statutory rape in every U.S. state. The film never lets you forget that, even as Gracie insists it was a love story.

Symbolic meaning of ‘May December’ in the title

• The title refers to May (youth, spring) and December (the autumn of life) (Netflix Tudum)
• Todd Haynes has explained that the title plays on the traditional “May–December romance” trope, but twists it (Netflix Tudum)
• In this case, the “May” figure is a child, and the “December” figure is a woman in her late 30s — inverting the usual gender dynamic

The catch: the title is deliberately ironic. A “May–December romance” usually implies an older man with a younger woman, something society often winks at. By reversing the genders, Haynes exposes the same power imbalance as predatory, not romantic.

Are Joe and Gracie still together at the end of May December?

The final scene: Joe’s subtle release

• The film ends at the twins’ graduation ceremony (Cosmopolitan UK)
• Elizabeth appears at the graduation and then leaves Savannah to start shooting the movie (Cosmopolitan)
• Joe stands alone in the backyard, looking at the house, and his expression shifts from blankness to something like recognition (Netflix Tudum)

The ending is deliberately ambiguous. Joe doesn’t pack a bag. He doesn’t confront Gracie. He just stands there, empty-handed, and for the first time, his face shows that he knows what happened to him. That’s the only resolution the film offers.

What the ending suggests about their relationship

• Gracie continues to control the narrative, insisting their life is normal (Netflix Tudum)
• Collider notes that the final moments leave the characters’ personal endings unresolved, especially Elizabeth’s state of mind (Collider)
• ScreenRant’s ending explainer says Elizabeth’s pursuit of the truth does not resolve the underlying deception and manipulation (ScreenRant)

The pattern: no one gets closure. Gracie keeps her story. Joe gets a moment of awareness but no escape plan. Elizabeth gets her film but loses her moral footing. The ending is a mirror — it reflects back whatever the viewer is willing to see.

Is May December worth watching?

Critical reception and awards buzz

• Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% critics score and 77% audience score (Rotten Tomatoes)
• Five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Feature and Best Supporting Male for Charles Melton (Rotten Tomatoes)
• Charles Melton earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Rotten Tomatoes)

Critics have praised the film’s performances, its unsettling tone, and its refusal to moralize. The 92% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes places it among the most acclaimed films of 2023, though the 77% audience score suggests it’s a divisive watch — and that’s precisely the point.

Why some viewers find it uncomfortable

• The film treats a sexual abuse story with the tone of a melodrama, which some viewers find jarring (Business Insider)
• Elizabeth’s method acting crosses ethical lines that mirror Gracie’s original abuse (Collider analysis)
• The film uses a recurring piano theme that grows more dissonant as the story progresses, creating a sense of unease (Netflix Tudum)

The trade-off: the discomfort is intentional. May December is not a film to relax into. It’s a film to wrestle with. If you want a clear moral framework, this isn’t it. If you want a performance-driven study of manipulation and self-deception, it’s one of the best of the decade.

Performance highlights: Melton’s breakout role

• Charles Melton, previously known for Riverdale, delivers a performance that critics have called “transformative” (Rotten Tomatoes)
• His portrayal of Joe as a man frozen in adolescence — still raising the children he fathered as a child himself — is the film’s emotional anchor (Netflix Tudum)
• Melton’s Golden Globe nomination was widely seen as a deserved recognition of a career-defining role (Rotten Tomatoes)

For viewers on the fence, Melton’s performance alone is a reason to watch. It’s the kind of role that announces a serious actor, and it carries the film’s emotional weight from the first scene to the last.

Why does Elizabeth sleep with Joe in May December?

Elizabeth’s method acting and boundary crossing

• Elizabeth uses sex with Joe to understand what Gracie experienced — or what she imagines Gracie experienced (Collider analysis)
• She crosses from observer to participant, blurring the line between research and exploitation (Netflix Tudum)
• ScreenRant argues that Elizabeth’s pursuit of the “truth” becomes a form of predation itself (ScreenRant)

The scene is the film’s most uncomfortable moment — not because it’s graphic, but because it’s so quiet. Elizabeth treats Joe as a source, not a person. She replicates Gracie’s original sin: using another human being for her own needs.

Parallels between Elizabeth and Gracie’s actions

• Both women see Joe as a means to an end — Gracie for companionship, Elizabeth for her performance (Netflix Tudum)
• Elizabeth’s seduction of Joe mirrors the power imbalance of Gracie’s original relationship with him (Collider analysis)
• Business Insider notes that the film critiques the entertainment industry’s own predatory patterns (Business Insider)

The implication: Elizabeth is not a villain in the traditional sense — she’s a warning. The film suggests that the line between artist and predator is thinner than most people want to admit, and that the hunger for a “true story” can make anyone complicit.

Pros and Cons of Watching May December

Confirmed facts and what remains unclear

Confirmed facts

• Natalie Portman plays Elizabeth Berry, an actress studying Gracie (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)
• Julianne Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a convicted sex offender (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)
• Charles Melton plays Joe Yoo, the husband who was 13 when the relationship began (Rotten Tomatoes Cast and Crew)
• The film is loosely based on the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal (Business Insider)
• The age gap between Gracie and Joe is 36 years at the start of the relationship (Netflix Tudum)
• Charles Melton received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male (Rotten Tomatoes)

What remains unclear

• Whether Elizabeth’s sex scene with Joe is meant to indict her as a predator or as a performer (Collider)
• If the ending implies Joe will leave Gracie or continue the relationship (MovieWeb)
• How closely the film mirrors the real Letourneau–Fualaau relationship vs. fictional deviations (Netflix Tudum)

Key voices on May December

“The title is deliberately ironic. A May–December romance usually implies an older man with a younger woman, something society often winks at. By reversing the genders, we expose the same power imbalance as predatory, not romantic.”

— Todd Haynes, director, in interviews about the film’s title and themes (Netflix Tudum)

“Joe is a character who has never had the space to ask himself what he wants. He’s been a husband, a father, a provider — but he’s never been allowed to be a person who got to choose.”

— Charles Melton, discussing his portrayal of Joe Yoo’s psychological journey (Rotten Tomatoes)

“The script came from a place of wanting to understand how people live with choices that others find indefensible. Not to excuse them, but to understand the architecture of self-deception.”

— Samy Burch, screenwriter, on how the script evolved from real-life events (Business Insider)

May December is not a film that offers easy answers or comfortable resolutions. It asks its audience to sit with discomfort, to question their own curiosity, and to recognize that the line between observer and participant is thinner than most people think. For viewers willing to engage with that challenge, the film offers some of the most layered performances and sharpest writing of the year. For those who prefer their entertainment with clear moral boundaries, it may feel like a provocation without a payoff. For the curious, the patient, and the unafraid, it’s an experience that stays with you — not because it resolves, but because it refuses to.

Related reading: Cast of Highest 2 Lowest: Actors and Characters (2025) · Death in Paradise Cast 2025: All Lead Detectives & Actors

Frequently asked questions