We have officially entered a MILF-aissance. Following the critical success of May December, it seems like every studio executive worth their salt is trying to harness the movie magic that only a woman sleeping with a much younger man can create. Since the Oscar-nominated film premiered last year, no fewer than five movies with age-gap romances have been announced. (Notably, two of them star Nicole Kidman. In the words of Lucille Bluth: Good for her!)
Of course, while older-man-younger-woman relationships are a bit more common, both on screen and in life, there are plenty of real-world examples of the inverse to bolster the film industry’s latest craze: Cher is 40 years older than her boyfriend, Alexander Edwards; Kris Jenner is 25 years older than her partner, Corey Gamble; even May December star Natalie Portman herself sparked dating rumors with Paul Mescal earlier this summer.
In the past, the trope has been explored as a joke. When, last year, TLC premiered the reality show MILF Manor, it reminded some 30 Rock fans of the fictional competition series MILF Island. But while May December turned a darkly comic lens on a problematic relationship, the topic of age gaps has proven to defy genre. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine brought One Direction fan fiction to life earlier this year in the rom-com The Idea of You, while Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson are set to give the concept the erotic-drama treatment in Babygirl.
Although the plots of these films tend to be described with words like sordid, torrid, and intoxicating, they represent a welcome change from the timeworn dynamic of wisened older man and innocent younger woman—and give women actors of a certain age exciting new material to mine.
Below, an accounting of the post–May December May-December movies to add to your watch list now.
The Idea of You is officially on Amazon Prime, and we have thoughts…like: What are we rooting for more, Nicholas’s hoop earring or Anne’s perfectly choppy bangs?Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection
The Idea of You
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine
