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‘Ammonite’ trailer with romance feat Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan draws ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ comparison

The film, written and directed by Francis Lee, tells the tale of fossil hunter Mary Anning and her relationship with Charlotte Murchison, a wealthy housewife who suffers from “melancholia”

On Tuesday, August 25, the trailer for ‘Ammonite’, written and directed by Francis Lee dropped. The film, set in 1840s England, follows the acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning. In the film, Anning and a young woman, Charlotte Murchison, sent to convalesce by the sea, develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever. The film stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.

In the trailer, we see Anning leaving her days of making famous geological discoveries behind her, now searching for common fossils to sell to tourists to support herself and her sickly mother. When a wealthy tourist pays a visit to Anning and asks her to take care of his ailing wife Charlotte, who suffers from “melancholia”, things take a turn. 

Anning now has a new apprentice. While they initially don’t get along, especially due to their different social classes and personalities, over time they begin to form an intense and passionate bond.

Filmmaker Francis Lee, who broke out with the acclaimed gay romance ‘God’s Own Country’ in 2017, received criticism last year when the film, and its focus, was announced. “I do not believe there is any evidence to back up portraying her as a gay woman,” said Barbara Anning, a family member of the film’s central character. Lee defended the decision, saying, “After seeing queer history be routinely ‘straightened’ throughout culture, and given a historical figure where there is no evidence whatsoever of a heterosexual relationship, is it not permissible to view that person within another context?”

But on social media, the film’s romance found resonance. As did the comparison with other films on gay love. On Youtube, a person commented, “Portrait of a fossil is the warmest colour on fire,” make references to 2019’s critically acclaimed French film, ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’, and yet another critically acclaimed French film called ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’. Another person on Youtube wrote, “The lesbians are winning! First Portrait of a Lady on Fire, now Ammonite. LET'S GO LESBIANS, LET'S GO!”

On Twitter too, the comparisons found currency. One Twitter user took screenshots from both films and wrote, “ammonite/portrait of a lady on fire.”

Another wrote, “Ammonite takes Portrait of a Lady on Fire and combines it with digging up fossils which...i'm here for.”

But some people also couldn’t help make Pokémon jokes. While Ammonite refers to fossils, especially those of creatures found chiefly in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, typically with intricately frilled suture lines, there exists in the Pokémon universe, a creature called, Omanyte, which is incidentally, an ancient and long-since-extinct Pokémon that has been regenerated from fossils by people. A Twitter user wrote, “Can i watch AMMONITE if i haven’t had a chance to catch the other 149 Pokémon origin stories?”

But over all, the general reaction to ‘Ammonite’ was that of sapphic appreciation. One Twitter user wrote, “sapphics who love to watch the sea #Ammonite.”

Another wrote, in all caps, “Lesbians stay winning exactly as we should this is everything #Ammonite.”

‘Ammonite’ was set to premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival but will now receive its first screening next month as part of this year’s Toronto film festival. ‘Ammonite’ will be released on-demand and in select theaters on November 13.