--- title: "Portrait of a Lady on Fire: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire" critics_score: 89 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019): what the critics said Critics' score 89 from 16 reviews: 16 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive, with praise centred on Sciamma’s direction, the chemistry between the two leads and the gradual development of their romance through looks and gestures. Most critics find the restraint emotionally powerful, and repeatedly single out the compositions, subtle performances and attention to female friendship. They also value the way artist and subject shape each other’s work, giving the film’s ideas about women’s agency a place within the love story. Differences are chiefly matters of emphasis, with enthusiasm ranging from warm approval to unqualified praise. The Wrap foregrounds looking and collaborative creation over conventional romance, while Screen Daily particularly admires the decision to leave much of the film without a score. Reservations are scarce: /Film raises a minor objection to one explicit scene, but still praises the direction and chemistry. There is no substantial dissent over the film’s emotional force or its treatment of female desire. ## Little White Lies — Katie Goh Rating 5/5/5. 14 February 2020. The critic hails the film as one of the year’s very best and a quietly radical 18th-century love story. She singles out Sciamma’s modern, energetic filmmaking and the way it unearths suppressed female histories through careful observation and memorialisation. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire) ## The i Paper — Demetrios Matheou Rating ★★★★★. 27 February 2020. The critic calls it a sublime film and perhaps Sciamma’s best yet, praising her direction and the impeccable performances. They single out the gorgeous account of female camaraderie and solidarity alongside the romance. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma-french-director-402459) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 5/5. 15 May 2019. Festival review. The critic praises the film as a masterclass of swelling passions in stifling restraint and Sciamma’s most cerebral work. He singles out its ideas about the female gaze, artists and muses, and the bold, proud evocation of female love and friendship with almost no men on screen. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire) ## Evening Standard — David Sexton Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 February 2020. The critic praises the film as ravishing from start to finish and an absolute treat for anyone with a heart. They single out the intense, evolving looks and connection between the two female leads as the life of the story. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-simply-ravishing-from-start-to-finish-a4373376.html) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating A-. 6 December 2019. The review calls it the year's most rapturously romantic movie, praising its gradual seduction, vivid imagery, and the way it explores seeing and knowing another person through the lens of a forbidden romance. It singles out the chemistry and ending for praise. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-is-the-years-sexiest-and-mos-1840267578) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 March 2020. The critic finds it a grand romance that transforms from a story about looking into one of texture, mood, and sound, praising its structure, emotional arcs, and the powerful final shot. It singles out the intimate moments and the ending for praise. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-movie-review.html) ## Empire — Sophie Monks Kaufman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 February 2020. The review celebrates the film’s exploration of a private love language created by two women through art, literature and music. They single out the focus on women helping each other survive womanhood and the poetic, non-destructive nature of the desire portrayed. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire/) ## The Telegraph — Tim Robey Rating 4/5. 27 February 2020. The critic calls it a radiant vision of 18th-century female intimacy that carries equal weight as a love story and manifesto for feminine art. He singles out the liberated heat of the romance in the second half and the inspired supporting subplot about the maid. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/portrait-lady-fire-review-radiant-vision-18th-century-female/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 February 2020. The critic describes an intimate, quirky lesson in the art of love told with sensual subtlety that avoids pretension. He praises the two-way creative process between artist and subject and the film’s focus on female perspectives with barely a man on screen. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-an-intimate-quirky-lesson-in-the-art-of-love-wvt5pc05q) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2019. Festival review. The review notes a hint of Hitchcock in the pull of its desires and highlights the intense, sensory cinematic quality of the film. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-there-is-a-hint-of-hitchcock-to-the-pull-of-its-desires/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang 5 December 2019. The film is an exquisitely realized story of forbidden love, forgotten art, and the power of a woman’s gaze. It reclaims lesbian romance through tenderness and eroticism while reflecting on overlooked female artists. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-12-05/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma) ## Screen Daily 19 May 2019. Festival review. The critic describes the film building from a demure watercolour into a vivid portrait of a stolen romantic relationship between two young women. She singles out the persuasive onscreen connection between the leads and the bold decision to forgo a score for much of the picture. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-cannes-review/5139683.article) ## Sight and Sound — Catherine Wheatley 26 February 2020. The critic calls the film exquisite and describes it as a thrilling, erotic love story of women that feels both strange and familiar. She singles out the chamberpiece focus on shapes, textures and female solidarity, along with striking compositions and a memorable bonfire scene. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/portrait-lady-fire-review-celine-sciammas-thrilling-erotic-story-women-love) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 1 March 2020. The critic praises Sciamma’s entrancing historical romance as a perceptive, erotic exploration of power and the female gaze. He highlights the film’s seamless blend of breathless romance, sociopolitical treatise and painterly visuals, rooted in social realism. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/01/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Leslie Felperin 19 May 2019. Festival review. The critic praises the film's intricate layering, emotional depth, and the chemistry between the leads, highlighting its formal adventurousness and devastating emotional impact as a standout period romance. It singles out the performances and the director's confident execution for praise. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/portrait-a-lady-fire-review-1212091/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane 26 November 2019. The film fans out from furtive beginnings into a love story of startling openness and power, performed with zeal and edited with great concision. It concludes in a barrage of unforeseen and barely manageable emotion. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/the-fanciful-flamboyance-of-the-aeronauts) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Rating 5/5. 20 May 2019. Festival review. The critic calls it a masterpiece and praises Sciamma's direction of the intimate story of two women forming a connection in 18th-century France. They single out the subtle performances and the supportive female relationships shown through minimalist staging. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-cannes-2019/) ## NME — El Hunt Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 February 2020. The critic calls the film a perfect, flawless queer love story that is restrained yet heart-wrenching, flipping the male gaze into a reciprocal lesbian one through subtlety and lingering shots. The immaculate frames and memorialization of fleeting moments via memory are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-film-review-2610975) ## Polygon — Karen Han Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 6 December 2019. The critic calls the film 2019’s most poignant romance and an emotional sucker punch, centering on the bittersweet inevitability of the central relationship amid patriarchal limits. She singles out the final shot and the film’s visual and emotional craftsmanship for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2019/12/6/20999429/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 March 2020. The critic calls the film a visually ravishing and piercingly intelligent treatise on art, agency and queer love in the 18th century, fundamentally about the act of looking and collaborative creation of authentically feminine art. It praises the self-reflexive focus on the gaze and the female perspective over conventional romance. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/portrait-of-lady-on-fire-film-review-celine-sciamma-adele-haenel-noemie-merlant/) ## /Film — Jason Gorber Rating 8.5/10. 1 June 2019. Festival review. The review hails the film as a richly textured, highly evocative story of love, lust and longing with exceptional direction and chemistry between the leads. It singles out the dance of glances and intimate gaze for particular praise while noting a minor quibble with one explicit scene. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/566800/a-portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-a-highly-evocative-story-of-love-lust-and-longing-cannes/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 4/5. 27 September 2019. The critic praises the film as a triumph in unconventional, honest movemaking with a slow-burn romance between two women conveyed through stolen glances and detailed performances. The photography and female gaze are singled out for their sensuality and humanity, avoiding typical lustiness. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-women-romance/) ## Paste — Natalia Keogan Rating 8.6. 4 February 2020. The critic praises Sciamma’s film for subverting the artist-muse dynamic by emphasizing mutual understanding and agency between the two women. She highlights the film's exploration of patriarchal constraints on women's freedom and the power of art and personal connection. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire.md