Portrait of a Lady on Fire begins just as a painting begins – with a blank canvas. Suddenly, we see hands enter the frame, making the beginning strokes of what they hope will capture the reality of what they see in front of them. In the film, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a painter, is sent on a peculiar mission that takes place on a rocky shore in Brittany, France. A noblewoman (Valeria Golino) asks her to paint a portrait of her daughter, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), in anticipation of her marriage with a Milanese gentleman. Héloïse, however, has no desire to be married and no desire to be painted, for she sees that as the final defeat on her road to a life she does not want. Marianne is told that since the last portrait artist did not last, she will go about it differently: she will simply accompany Héloïse on her daily walks and paint her in secret. What follows is a story of two women who begin as enigmas to each other, and then slowly, through their glances and gestures, become entangled together.
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