Fire Walk With Me

You know how you felt the first time you watched the “Carol” trailer? Well, prepare to feel all of that again, but this time with a French accent. Set some 200 years before Carol Aird every laid eyes on Therese Belivet, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is already being lavished with praise from critics. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last week and the “Oh la la” could be felt across the globe.

It’s not just that this is an 18th Century story of a young female artist commissioned to paint a reluctant young woman who doesn’t want to be painted (because it will lead to a marriage proposal, which she does not want). It’s that this thing looks gorgeous and gorgeous some more and also have I mentioned how gorgeous it looks?

It’s filled with deep, meaningful looks, which everyone knows is the native language of all gay women. Like, staring silently while secretly lusting for one another is the international lesbian mating ritual. But here, set in a seaside locale with plenty of dramatic cliffs, windswept frocks and endless wordless longing, well, c’est magnifique.

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire” comes out Dec. 6 in the United States in limited release. So, like “Carol,” it will be an early Christmas gift to queer women. Now, off to watch the trailers again on repeat until then. A bientot, les jeune filles.