Things We Saw Today: Portrait of a Lady On Fire Lands on Hulu TONIGHT!

Happy Thursday! (Yes, we did double-check that). It’s time to celebrate because one of the best films of 2020 is hitting Hulu tonight at midnight PST, in a surprising gift to anyone that loves cinema and romance. That’s right, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the lesbian art film of our dreams, will be available to stream in mere hours! Seriously, if you haven’t seen this amazing film, get on it. It’s a rapturous, intricately crafted jewel of a film and it’s also the perfect movie for times of social distancing.

The film, which won best screenplay at last year’s Cannes film festival, takes place on an unnamed, isolated island in France in the 1700s. Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a painter, is hired to secretly paint the daughter of a noble widow, so her portrait may be sent ahead of her to Milan. In the solitude of a nearly empty-house and desolate seashore, the two women connect and begin a passionate, life-affirming affair.

It’s a movie about the secret, hidden spaces of women; about love and loss and art. It’s about how hard life can be but how moments of love and art can be a relief and joy. It’s about hope and connection in the face of loneliness. In short, it’s the perfect movie for a time when we’re all feeling cut off from the rest of the world and we’re longing for connection.

It’s also, obviously a movie we love very much here at the Mary Sue, and you can and should check out our coverage about how This is the film we need right now; the way the movie uses music and witchcraft as motifs and why it’s so important that we call it a lesbian film. Seriously, friends, it’s perfectly shot and acted and it has art and lesbians and the ocean and everything great in the world. Go watch it!

(image: Neon)

Here are some other things we saw today that are sure to ease the quarantine:

• Did you somehow miss Crisis on Infinite Earths? Well, good news, The CW is re-airing it as a full “event” in April! (via Comicbook.Com)
• Unsurprisingly, there’s been a huge spike in TV viewership while we’ve all been at home. (via CBR)
• Now THIS is Podracing! (via Polygon)
• I don’t get TikTok but I love this.
  See more

  i have already watched this a million times pic.twitter.com/LHZxfZdklT

  — karen han (@karenyhan) March 26, 2020

• Dogs, man. Dogs. (via CNN)
• We agree: Faith, not Bloodshot, should have been the first Valiant Comics movie hero (via CBR)
• The “Real JD” who inspired Scrubs is a real hero. (via EW)
• I STILL don’t get TikTok but …
  See more

  My favorite version: pic.twitter.com/dpstb1Dl4y

  — c a i t l i n (@hello__caitlin) March 26, 2020

Keep safe out there–I mean inside! What did you see today?

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Jessica Mason

Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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