Portrait Of a Lady On Fire

2020 • 121 minutes

About this movie

One of the best reviewed films of the year and winner of the coveted Best Screenplay and Queer Palm awards at the Cannes Film Festival, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE is an intimate and deeply affecting period drama about freedom, love and desire. Marianne is a young painter in 18th-Century France, commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse without her knowing. Marianne disguises herself as her companion to get closer to her subject – observing by day and secretly painting at night. Intimacy and attraction grow between the two women as they share Héloïse’s first and last moments of freedom. The portrait soon becomes a collaborative act and a testament to their love.

Ratings and reviews

Simplisticly beautiful. Every scene in the film could be painted as a masterpiece, the lighting, the framing, the cinematography... This film has left me slightly obsessed! It's one of those movies that stole a part of me. My new favourite movie by a long shot. There's so much to love about Portrait of a lady on fire. What I love about this especially is the film is shot and acted from the female gaze. So there's so many beautiful subtle moments. Eye contact, gazing, small touches, smiles. Love

Exquisite and poetic meditation on love, longing and freedom. Sits deeply inside a woman's world. The weaving through of the mythic strand from Orpheus & Eurydice is both poignant and sublime. A rare gem. Breathtaking moments of wonder, artistry and loss.

A film of restrained passion, subtle, controlled but constantly seething with rebellion. Beautiful throughout and desperately engaging. A meditation on seeing - as lovers, as artists, as audience. I'd give it *28* stars 😉