Bridgerton aside, Ammonite is proof that the British do NOT do romance as well as the French. Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire was one 2019’s best romances, wonderfully capturing the magic of forbidden romance, even if only for a short while. Ammonite basically says, “oh, so you want a period lesbian romance at a remote sea location? Done” and simply Anglophiles Sciamma’s simmering story. Unfortunately, Ammonite trades passion and romance for Britain’s version: silence and gray seascapes. Not great, Bob.
Lyme Regis isn’t exactly a place where most great British stories are set, but I doubt Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) would be interested in those stories anyways. A fiercely independent woman who built a career on finding fish fossils on her rocky seashore, Anning is content to live her life for her work. A renowned paleontologist, Anning is visited one day by student/admirer Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) who hopes to learn from Anning the fine art of fossil discovery. Roderick is also in Lyme to care for his wife Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan), a woman who’s lost her spirit being trapped in a life she doesn’t want. Roderick gets called back to London, and pays for Mary to be a companion for Charlotte as his wife tries to rediscover herself. Charlotte does rediscover herself, just not in the way Roderick or anyone at the time could have forseen.
How fitting Irish Poet Oscar Wilde coined the phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Ammonite so BADLY wants to be Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Both movies are period pieces. Both movies are about a forbidden lesbian romance. Both movies set that romance at a remote seaside location. Both movies have a character involved in a marriage. Both movies have time crunches on the passionate romance to exist. Both movies use a character’s career as a metaphor for the story. And both movies cast capable, talented actors to sell the sizzle during the quiet. Problem is, Francis Lee doesn’t have the writing chops of Celine Sciamma when it comes to romance. That’s because there’s one tiny, crucial difference between Portrait and Ammonite: the focus of Ammonite’s story isn’t the romance. It’s the selling point, yes. But this story is primarily about Kate Winslet’s Mary Anning, and how she chooses to live her life. Saoirse Ronan, try as she might, is just a prop here for the most part. Because we don’t have two characters to root for, Ammonite’s silences, quiet, and gray coastline aren’t simmering, they’re just…boring. You’ll probably find yourself more interested everyone leaving their clothes on because of the dresses and period decor. Try as they might, Ronan and Winslet can’t really pull off what the movie needs them to, because let’s face it, staring at rocks for 2 hours just isn’t that exciting.
Maybe this is a sign of progress though. Not every period piece LGBT romance can be earth shattering award level storytelling. But demand for stories like Ammonite is strong enough that even the less prestigious ones get greenlit and produced. You know society is bending the right way when novelty of LGBT storytelling is starting to wane. So congrats Ammonite! You’re helping make LGBT lifestyles more mainstream than ever. But I know Mary Anning doesn’t care, so just go back to your rocks. I know it makes you happy.