Paul Elliott’s review published on Letterboxd:
West Yorkshire born filmmaker Francis Lee transposes a romantic and sexual framework to this period set film, which takes place in England during the 1840s. It beholds Kate Winslet playing Mary Anning, a renowned fossil hunter who on most mornings scours the jagged seashore near her cottage in Lyme for ammonite fossils and shells to sell to tourists who flock to the region. She comes to gradually develop an intense relationship with Charlotte Murchison, a young woman, played by Saoirse Ronan, who arrives to recuperate from melancholia with her husband who pays Anning to oversee her supervision.
The cinematography does some sensible work framing their affections, as the two enjoy the spirited location and unhurriedly ascend to revel in each other's company. Lee's script inevitably reflects other contemporary lesbian romances and comparisons with Portrait of a Lady on Fire become unmistakably drawn which serve to do the film an injustice as Céline Sciamma's film is masterful. However, taken on its own merits, there are some emotional subtleties throughout the film, which Winslet, in particular, does an important job in communicating.
The romantic drama features very little dialogue and tonally remains low key but is bindingly compassionate. Lee attaches the interactions between his two characters with a well-considered sound design that deliberately plays up the surroundings' noises and wields there hostility or composure to communicate mood. He additionally shrewdly provides the film's reins to both Winslet and Ronan. Their drive gives the narrative a vitality as it develops to confront gender discrimination issues. Still, ultimately, the storyline's presentation can only manage to carry the intensity so far, and the technique begins to relinquish its cogency by the arrival of its final act. Despite the admirable and well-intentioned execution, it has sadly forfeited a vast majority of its momentum before it finally crosses the finish line.