Netflix has acquired the North American rights to Todd Haynes’ film “May December,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The film stars Julianne Moore as a woman who became notorious and spent time in prison for an affair with a seventh grader whom she later married, and Natalie Portman as the actress who hangs out with Moore’s character as preparation for playing her in a movie.

Netflix paid a reported $11 million for the film, a deliberately pulpy outing for Haynes. A week into the festival, it is Cannes’ largest deal to date.

The streaming company will release the film late this year and will no doubt launch an awards campaign focusing on Moore and Portman.

Haynes directed from a screenplay by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik. Producers on “May December” were Jessica Elbaum and Will Ferrell of Gloria Sanchez Productions, Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of...