Julianne Moore channeled Mary Kay Letourneau for Netflix's soapy new 'May December'

NEW YORK − With Netflix’s latest true-crime movie, director Todd Haynes wants to turn the lens on the genre itself.

In the deliciously soapy “May December" (out later this year), Julianne Moore plays a fictional tabloid fixture named Gracie Atheron-Yoo, who at 36, was caught having a sexual relationship with a then-13-year-old boy, Joe (Charles Melton). Their illicit affair sparked a media circus and Gracie served prison time, later marrying Joe after her release.

Now two decades later, Gracie is set to be portrayed in a new film by TV star Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman), who comes to stay with Gracie so she can learn about her. But Gracie and Joe begin to unravel as Elizabeth burrows deeper into their lives, interviewing their family and friends in search of some truth.

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The movie has obvious parallels to Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who raped and later married her sixth-grade student. But during a post-screening Q&A Friday at New York Film Festival, screenwriter Samy Burch avoided making any direct comparisons.

“I really wanted a fictional story that dealt with this tabloid culture of the ‘90s that has seemingly bled into this true-crime biopic world we’re in right now,” Burch says. “(I wanted) to question that transition and why we want to keep recreating those stories.”

For Moore, Letourneau proved a helpful jumping-off point, and Gracie's distinct lisp was inspired in part by the sex offender's way of speaking.

“Down to the cadence and her manner of speech, there were things in the loose upper palate that we did find interesting in Mary Kay Letourneau’s speech that was a kickoff for (Moore), and she took it further,” Haynes said.

The character of Joe ultimately becomes the heart of the movie. Now 36, Joe starts to grapple with the childhood that was robbed from him, as his and Gracie's kids prepare to go off to college.

“He’s a person who hasn’t had any time to process what happened to him, and the media blitz that followed, and the heartbreak of that,” Burch says.

“May December” premiered in May at Cannes Film Festival in France, garnering strong reviews (90% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and early awards talk for best supporting actress (Moore). The movie will open in theaters Nov. 17, before streaming on Netflix Dec. 1.

The film marks the fifth time Moore has collaborated with Haynes, after roles in the director’s “Safe” (1995), “Far From Heaven” (2002), “I’m Not There” (2007) and “Wonderstruck” (2017).

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Despite the complex subject matter, the movie is often acerbically funny, as Gracie and Elizabeth throw subtle shade at each other, and Elizabeth goes to shocking extremes to embody her subject.

In Burch’s script, there was “a refusal to form moral opinions about the characters, or redeem either of the female characters,” Haynes says. Tonally, the challenge was to “give the viewer a comparable place to interrogate what they were watching. But I also felt it was really important that there was an element of pleasure in doing so: that it made you uncomfortable, but there was an excitement.”

“May December” opens the 61st New York Film Festival, which runs through Oct. 15 and features a star-heavy lineup fronted by Emma Stone (“Poor Things”), Paul Mescal ("All of Us Strangers") and Penelope Cruz (“Ferrari”).

The film is part of a stacked fall slate for Netflix, which is touting other Oscar hopefuls "Maestro" and "The Killer" at this year's festival. The streaming service's newly acquired "Hit Man," starring "Top Gun" breakout Glen Powell, is also set to play the annual New York fest.

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