An average movie

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really strong cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even if it definitely had some potential, to be honest, it didn’t really impress me after all. The first really bewildering thing about this movie was the fact that Francis Lee decided to take a historical figure like Mary Anning, apparently a famous paleontologist, and give her a lesbian affair with a married woman when there is actually no evidence whatsoever that she was actually lesbian at all. Eventually, even if I don’t think it was really shocking, it was still a rather weird artistic choice. The fact that their affair didn’t really sparkle probably didn’t help either. Basically, Francis Lee tried once again to depict here a sad and nostalgic gay romance but, while it worked fine with his intriguing directorial debut ‘God's Own Country’, to be honest, it all felt more dreary than really passionate this time around. I mean, when this two women met, you felt no connection whatsoever and they eventually ended up living in the same house in the most completely random way. Then, after Charlotte Murchison felt better, she started to act completely differently than at the beginning of the movie and this change of behavior was just too abrupt and never properly explained. Concerning Mary Anning, well, her behavior was more consistent through the whole duration but you might wonder why she actually fell in love with Charlotte Murchison. At least, the damned thing did look fine and I won’t blame Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, they both delivered some solid performances even if the material provided to them was not exactly stellar. Finally, the fact that the similar but far superior 'Portrait de la jeune fille en feu' was released only the year before probably made the flaws in this movie even more obvious. Anyway, to conclude, even though it turned out to be rather disappointing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.