‘May December’ Scribe Samy Burch Talks Juggling Humor With Uniquely Dark Subject Matter

If we had to pick one film as this year’s awards season dark horse, May December would be it.

Indeed, the deeply unsettling Netflix hit has garnered more than a bit of deserved buzz for the pitch-perfect performances from Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, and also from breakout star Charles Melton, who just might line up for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards this year.

But it’s Samy Burch’s wickedly incisive screenplay that ties May December together, deftly packing its precariously dark premise with provocative themes and an approach that somehow gets away with much more levity than one might expect.

For Burch, the resulting playground for interpretation was key in making May December the evocative titan it was for audiences. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the screenwriter reflected on how humor managed to play a big role in both the creation of the screenplay and the wildly diverse reactions that May December received.

Some people are able to see the dark comedic elements and the heartbreak, and some people are only seeing the heartbreak. I’d be more concerned if there were people that are only seeing our comedy and not taking any of it seriously. And I think some people are maybe misinterpreting what the other group thinks is funny. There are a few different types of humor in the script; some of it is more glib, an indictment of the true-crime machine, or of actors, or just everyone’s foolhardy ego in searching for the truth. There’s something comedic about that. But then some moments are release valves. It’s so uncomfortable.

It’s worth noting how, when it comes to writing especially, humor tends to be quite intimate with darker elements—whether it’s May December‘s specific moral unease or a gory slasher—because of the role they can both play in the manipulation of tension.

Indeed, it’s not always enough to just present an uncomfortable situation to your audience and expect that discomfort to hook them; giving that discomfort a dynamic element—i.e., using humor to offer a brief respite before throwing audiences right back into the matter at hand, leaving them yearning for more relief from the discomfort—is an important skill in the screenwriter’s toolbox, and Burch’s execution of that skill with May December is something to be greatly admired.

(featured image: Netflix)