May December

Right, let’s get this out of the way first: those of us of a certain age can’t see this title without thinking of Demi Lovato’s ‘Remember December’ music video playing every ad break on Disney Channel. What, just me? We move… May December sees an actress (Portman) travel to meet and study the life of a woman (Moore), loosely based on real-life sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau, as whom she is set to star in her next film role. It’s a camp but not-at-all-easy watch from the director of Carol and Far From Heaven and handles its difficult subject matter with aplomb – light on its feet, yet deeply unsettling. The cast are on predictably fine form and it’s always great to see Moore and Haynes working together again. Look out for this one at the Oscars. Let’s just say that it might be wise for the caterers to avoid any mashed-potato-based offerings.

Kieran Hall

Thirty years ago, a schoolteacher caught the gaze of tabloids everywhere when she was caught in an affair with her student. 23 years later, they live in seeming suburban bliss, until an actress arrives to research her part. Secrets are revealed, threads are frayed and the artifice is stripped and burnt away. Y’know, another fun evening at the moving pictures! The latest from Todd Haynes (Carol, Dark Waters) is an equal-parts hilarious and viscerally uncomfortable psychodrama about celebrity and trauma, a dizzying melodrama from one of the greatest filmmakers of the current day boasting career-high performances from its stars (but especially Charles Melton, who is… frankly unbelievable here. So so good).

Tomas Caldon