The First Monday In May New! Site

The film’s title itself is ironic. The “First Monday in May” is the Met Gala—an event that, in 2015, had become a global media spectacle. But the film spends only its final 25 minutes on the Gala itself. The preceding 65 minutes are devoted to research, installation, negotiation, and doubt. Rossi’s argument, therefore, is that the real story is not the red carpet, but the invisible labor and ethical compromise that make the red carpet possible.

Make no mistake: is a fundraiser. A single ticket to the gala currently exceeds $50,000, with tables going for $350,000. The event raises millions of dollars annually to endow the Costume Institute, ensuring it remains the only self-funded department in the Met. When you see a celebrity on that carpet, you are looking at a $50,000 donation (unless a fashion house pays for their seat, which is common). The First Monday In May

Finally, there is the spectacle. Because requires guests to adhere to a strict theme, it is the last remaining red carpet where genuine risk-taking exists. Stars cannot simply wear a pretty dress; they must tell a story. This has led to legendary moments: The film’s title itself is ironic

Every year, as the final chill of winter fades and the promise of spring blooms across the Northern Hemisphere, a specific date looms large on the calendars of the fashion elite, Hollywood celebrities, and art enthusiasts alike. That date is . The preceding 65 minutes are devoted to research,

Rossi’s camera holds on this discomfort. Critically, the documentary does not resolve this moment. Later, the Met adds a small section of contemporary Chinese fashion, but the film implies it is a token gesture. This sequence is the film’s most honest moment: it reveals that even well-intentioned curatorial projects are constrained by institutional inertia and funding sources (most of the exhibition’s major lenders were Western fashion houses).

The film’s climax is not the Gala itself, but the morning after, when the museum opens to the public. Rossi films a young Chinese-American woman staring at a Guo Pei dress next to a Tang dynasty horse. She whispers to her friend, “It’s like they’re talking to each other.” For a brief moment, the curatorial thesis—that objects across time can converse—achieves its intended effect. The film suggests that despite the corruption of the fundraising machine, the democratic encounter between a visitor and an object remains the museum’s core redemption.

Anthropologist David Grazian (2015) describes red-carpet events as “status ceremonies” that reinforce celebrity hierarchies. The First Monday in May complicates this by showing the Gala as a failure of ritual. Despite Wintour’s meticulous planning, the actual event—as depicted—is chaotic: guests skip the exhibition to go to the bathroom, donors complain about table placement, and several Chinese celebrities are literally lost in the museum’s corridors.