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
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine
Premise: Forty-year-old divorcée and gallery owner Solène Marchand (Hathaway) winds up chaperoning her daughter at Coachella, where she forges an instant connection with a boy band–er—a Harry Styles stand-in named Hayes Campbell (Galitzine). The two begin a whirlwind romance; hotel sex ensues.
Babygirl
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson
Premise: CEO Romy (Kidman) risks her stable life and marriage to her theater-director husband (Antonio Banderas) when she meets Samuel (Dickinson), her company’s new intern assigned to be her mentee. Ahead of the film’s world premiere in Venice on Friday, Kidman has piqued interest, saying of her performance, “This is something you do and hide in your home videos. It is not a thing that normally is going to be seen by the world.”
A Family Affair
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King
Premise: Zara (King) reaches her breaking point working as a personal assistant for a high-maintenance movie star (Efron). When he tries to win her back, he unexpectedly falls for her mother, Brooke (Kidman), a writer. Together, they try to carry on a relationship behind Zara’s back.
Lonely Planet
Starring: Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth
Premise: A novelist (Dern) heads to a creative retreat in Morocco hoping to cure her writer’s block; instead, she finds an electric connection with a younger man (Hemsworth). “The dynamic between the younger man and the older, established writer intrigued me because it’s not just about romance—it’s about finding someone who truly sees and understands you, which is something deeply human and relatable,” Dern told Netflix’s Tudum.
I Want Your Sex
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman
Premise: Artist Erika (Wilde) sucks Elliott (Hoffman) into her orbit as her “sexual muse,” per the official synopsis. But soon their relationship spirals out of control. Expect sex, power, and even murder.
