Ammonite (15)
Directed by Francis Lee
★★★

AFTER his critically acclaimed and frankly stunning debut feature God’s Own Country, film-maker Francis Lee has turned his sights to one of the unsung heroes of British palaeontology and fossil discovery: Mary Anning.

Rather than a straight biopic, this is an imagined snapshot of Anning’s life in 1840s Lyme Regis and the intense relationship that developed between her and Charlotte Murchison (Saoirase Ronan), a young married woman sent to convalesce by the sea.

Though the relationship is (possibly) fictional, both women were apparently good friends.

Anning (Kate Winslet) was a working-class self-taught palaeontologist — and a woman to boot — who made significant discoveries.

The film acutely captures how hard it was for Anning to pursue her life’s work uncovering fossils, including ammonites, by scouring and digging along the beach in all weathers, only for her findings to be overlooked and appropriated by her male peers.

According to Lee, he wanted to tell a heartfelt but stark love story which is also an investigation into how to navigate a relationship from deeply lonely and disconnected beginnings, plus, how we can open up and learn to love again after being profoundly hurt, which he does with great conviction.

Winslet and Ronan give formidable performances in which they don’t hold back, particularly in the explicit love scenes, as two women, polar opposites in terms of social class, temperament and intellect, complement each other.

This is also reflected in their living environments. Anning resides with her elderly and ailing mother (Gemma Jones) in a small, dark and uncomfortable abode behind a rundown shop, from where she sells her fossils — barely making ends meet — while Murchison’s world is all light and space.

Lee has an innate skill at portraying an intimate and personal love story with few words, set against a harsh and unforgiving setting.

Yet I can’t help thinking that Anning’s real life story was fascinating enough without having to embellish it.

Available on demand March 26