Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore Sex Scandal Drama ‘May December’ Heats Up Cannes With 6-Minute Standing Ovation

Todd Haynes brought delicious psychodrama to the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, with the world premiere of his May December starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Captivating the Cannes crowd the film earned a 6-minute standing ovation at the festivals Grand Palais.

As a TV star looking to up her indie cred with a film role playing Julianne Moore, Natalie Portmans relentless method acting and probing for secrets delighted the black tie screening. Moore, as an unraveling town pariah who gave birth to her first child while behind bars for statutory rape, scored big laughs for her bristling over a celebrity going through her dirty laundry.

A breakout dramatic turn by Riverdale star Charles Melton as well as an unexpectedly effective score that borders on something out of a horror film made the late night screening the perfect antidote to the heavy premiere that preceded it: Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon.

May December stars Portman as Elizabeth, an actor who heads to Savannah to study the lives ofGracie (Moore) and Joe (Melton). Years prior, Gracie and Joes scandalous cross-generational affair sparked a national controversy due to their age gap and the fact that Gracie was Joes boss at a local pet store. Twenty years later, Elizabeth is playing Gracie in a film version of the scandal, but her arrival puts a disruptive pressure on Gracie and Joes marriage.

In an interview with Variety head of Cannes, Melton described May December as a complex, compounded, voyeuristic experience of the human condition.

We really get a lens into our characters Joe and Gracie, he added. Theyve been in an unconventional relationship for a very long time, and the arrival of Natalies character serves as a catalyst for certain awakenings.

Haynes has a long history with the Cannes Film Festival. He debuted at the festival in 1998 with Velvet Goldmine, which won a prize for best artistic contribution, and later returned with Carol (2015) and Wonderstruck (2017). Carol was greeted with a 10-minute standing ovation after its Cannes debut, and star Rooney Mara went on to win the best actress prize at the festival.

May December is currently seeking U.S. distribution.