My Thoughts on Ammonite

 

With his 2017 debut God's Own Country, Francis Lee established himself as a master of both delicate queer storytelling and an expert captor of the rugged British countryside. Ammonite does nothing to refute either of these descriptions, and doubles down on its predecessor's theory that intimacy is a cure for isolation, as well as Lee's enduring use of natural landscapes as a setting for stories about passionate yet routinely overlooked romances. God's Own Country was hailed as a milestone in British cinema and LGBTQ+  representation onscreen, so the question is this: is Ammonite a worthy follow-up?

The short answer? Yes, but just about. Ammonite tells the true story of Mary Anning, a collector of fossils in 19th century Dorset. The film speculates a romance between Anning and geologist Charlotte Murchison, and it's from here that Lee sows to seeds for an understated, largely unspoken romance. The performances, much like the handsome Lyme Regis landscape, initially appear cold and minimal, but over the course of the runtime, Lee is able to unearth the hidden wonders of both. Kate Winslet is outstanding as Anning, gradually warming up her defensive, understated shell to reveal a person who is passionate, insecure and hugely sympathetic. It's a performance that never gives too much at any given time, and Winslet is careful in how she emotes, the perfect way to play a character who has kept her guard up for so long that she's not even sure if it can come back down. Watching Winslet ease into moments of heightened emotion is a real thrill, even if the film's glacial stoicism means that those moments of release few and far between

Ammonite's main issue is its tone. Lee excels at telling a believable, engaging love story, and his visual storytelling is as strong as its ever been. The problem is that he's so good at alternating between guarded, mostly unspoken feeling and wonderfully conveyed romance that the film often gets stuck between the two and comes up emotionally uneven. And that's a shame, not just because of the already discussed tour-de-force from Winslet, but from how fantastically Saoirse Ronan is able to offset her. In another of a string of incredible turns in period pieces, Ronan works wonders in softening the tone and convincing the viewer that the film is worth investing in

And despite its issues, it is. Lee's film is choppy in places but still features fantastic performances and an engaging queer love story that feels a lot timelier than its setting would indicate. It's easy to forgive the missteps because the careful, minimal tone works more that it doesn't. The film struggles to change gears but when it's in motion there is something really compelling about it, and if Ammonite isn't quite as consistently breathtaking as God's Own Country, then it's nice to know that Lee's still got a few more tricks up his sleeve

★ ★ ★