«A superbly elegant, enigmatic drama that compels a shiver of aesthetic pleasure and fear. Sciamma demonstrates a deeply satisfying new mastery of classical style to go with the contemporary social realism she showed. I was on the edge of my seat. Portrait of a Lady on Fire has something of Alfred Hitchcock – actually two specific Hitchcocks: Rebecca, with a young woman arriving at a mysterious house, haunted by the past, and also Hitchcock’s Vertigo, with its all-important male gaze. Sciamma flips it to a female gaze, a gaze of connoisseurship, of artistic appropriation, of erotic rapture. And that gaze is reciprocated. Sciamma brings the erotic together with the cerebral. What a story of desire.»

★★★★★ The Guardian – Peter Bradshaw

«Gorgeous and Bold. Subversively seductive. Sciamma has adoringly crafted this project for that film’s star, Adèle Haenel, who beguiles audiences here with all that’s hidden behind her mysterious Mona Lisa smile. It dares to engage directly with the questions of representation and gender that seem to have flummoxed the film industry of late, broadening its focus to the subject of womanhood itself at a time documented almost exclusively by men. Though this gorgeous, slow-burn lesbian romance works strongly enough on a surface level, one can hardly ignore the fact, as true then as it is now, that the world looks different when seen through ladies’ eyes. It beautifully conveys Sciamma’s point, about the vital importance of being seen.»

Variety – Peter Debruge

«You don’t need any prior knowledge in order to be wowed by Céline Sciamma’s PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, a visually ravishing period drama. Walk in blind and take in all that this piercingly intelligent treatise on art, agency and queer love in the 18th century has to offer. Go in with a touch more context, however, and this already self-reflexive work takes on an entirely new dimension. A strong prize contender.»

The Wrap – Ben Croll

«GRADE A. A Masterpiece. A devastatingly unforgettable story of love and memory. As perfect a film as any to have premiered this year. Razor-sharp and shatteringly romantic. A profoundly tender story about the process of self-discovery and becoming. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a period romance that’s traditional in some ways, progressive in others, and altogether so damn true that it might feel more like staring into a mirror than it does running your eyes over a canvas. The film expresses that discovery as vividly as any that’s ever been made, as the drama’s spartan backdrop only adds to the intensity of its blaze. An unforgettable film that cooks at a low simmer until going incandescent in its closing minutes. It’s a magnificent love story about how our formative romances can shape us and sweep us forward, whether we have to move along because life presents us an opportunity or if we have to move on because life denies us a million more. It’s a film that captures the feeling you get from the last scene of “Roman Holiday” and stretches it over a full two hours in which not a single moment is wasted.»

IndieWire– David Ehrlich

«Made by a filmmaker who is herself, as we say in English nowadays, on fire. At this point, Sciamma is practically throwing off sparks and hot coals as she enters a confident, bigger-risk-taking phase of her career. Assaying her first period film, an exquisitely executed love story that's both formally adventurous and emotionally devastating, she sticks the landing like a UCLA gymnast in peak condition. It's so good you'll want to watch again in slow-motion immediately afterwards just to see how she does it. Sciamma is likely to get the lioness' share of praise for this wonderful film, but the contributions from the cast, especially Merlant and Haenel, are huge factors in its success. The two have combustible, practically fissile chemistry, felt not just in the love scenes but from the dramatic moment when they first see one another's faces at the end of a long bravura tracking shot. Not a moment in this film is wasted, which suits a story about lovers without a moment to lose.»

The Hollywood Reporter - Leslie Felperin

«A masterfully composed period piece. Sciamma’s ravishing celebration of female passion and desire is rooted in mutual sexual awakening but ultimately becomes a story of a much deeper, more spiritual kind of love. Sciamma’s sharp, progressive script – which is tonally faithful to the period – is all the more affecting for what it doesn’t show us; what is leaves unsaid.»

Little White Lies – Adam Woodward

«A Searing Love Story. Sciamma has a magnificent capability for elegant prose that wouldn’t feel out of place in a classic novel, the kind of dialogue that simmers long after it is spoken. Sciamma turns Portrait of a Lady on Fire into a palimpsest of a thousand other romances. Like the feeling of new love itself, the film derives freshness from its execution, rather than its conceit. Love is not a series of gestures, nor a written script, but an original work of art, begun for the first time, again and again.»

The Playlist – Caroline Tsai