57 best Netflix movies to watch (and 24 to skip)

May December

Release Year: 2023

Director: Todd Haynes

Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, D. W. Moffett, Cory Michael Smith, Elizabeth Yu, Gabriel Chung, and Piper Curda

Without a doubt, May December is the best movie Netflix has released in a long, long time.

The Todd Haynes-helmed film stars Julianne Moore and Charles Melton as a married couple who are getting ready to send their youngest children off to college. Now that they’re about to have an empty nest, husband Joe reflects on his life — particularly his controversial relationship with wife Gracie — and starts to come to terms with the trauma he faced as a child. The fact that an actress named Elizabeth, played by Natalie Portman, has arrived in town to study Gracie in preparation to play her in a movie only causes Joe to recall these memories even more.

We won’t share more of the synopsis than this as we highly recommend going into this movie with the least amount of plot details, but just know it’s an intense one. May December uses campy tones throughout the movie as a plot device, depicting this all-too-real story in a melodramatic way to confront how true crime stories are typically handled on screen.

I didn’t know much about the true story that May December takes inspiration from ahead of watching, which made for a shocking, heartbreaking, and overall thought-provoking experience. The performances in the movie are also fantastic, and film critics are predicting Melton will be nominated for an Academy Award for his role. He absolutely deserves it. He’s already won a Gotham Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award, and other achievements for his portrayal of a man who had so much of his life ripped away from him. Melton is a scene stealer in this.

May December is one of the most important films of the year, and we’re so happy we can stream it right now on Netflix.

Verdict: WATCH