Portrait of a Lady on Fire

France, 1760. Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), a young woman who has just left the convent. Because she is a reluctant bride-to-be, Marianne arrives under the guise of companionship, observing Héloïse by day and secretly painting her by firelight at night. As the two women orbit one another, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse’s first moments of freedom. Héloïse’s portrait soon becomes a collaborative act of and testament to their love. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel turn the subtle act of looking into a dangerous, engrossing thrill, and to watch Marianne and Héloïse fall in love is to see love itself invented onscreen. With contemporary themes in period dress, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a stunning love story for the ages from acclaimed director Céline Sciamma (Tomboy).  Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. (Dir. by Céline Sciamma, 2019, France, in French/Italian with English subtitles, 121 mins., Rated R)