Neon, the indie distributor behind two of the best films of 2019 (Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Best Picture winner Parasite) and this year’s “damn near perfect” Palm Springs, has released the trailer for the company’s next awards seasons contender.
Ammonite stars Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet as… does it matter? It’s a movie with Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet. You’re going to see it. But in case you need more convincing, Winslet plays Mary Anning, an “acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever,” according to the official plot synopsis. Ammonite was directed by Francis Lee, and while it may lack the sweaters of his last film God’s Own Country (seriously, SO many great sweaters), it looks equally moody and romantic. Speaking of that romance, Anning’s relatives criticized the film for depicting a same-sex relationship that they claimed never happened. Lee responded on Twitter:
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…?
As a working class, queer film maker, I continually explore the themes of class, gender, sexuality within my work, treating my truthful characters with utter respect and I hope giving them authentic respectful lives and relationships they deserve.
Ammonite opens on November 13.