‘Ammonite’ stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in a passionate romance based on historical characters. The movie premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. After playing many more film festivals, Ammonite opened in theaters Nov. 13 and on VOD Dec. 4. Now the film is available on all home video format, including Blu-ray and DVD, allowing the most people possible to see it.
Now that more people have a chance to watch Ammonite, they may be wondering about the ending. Here’s an explanation of where the film leaves Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet’s characters.
Winslet plays Mary Anning, a fossiler in the 1840s. She discovers a lot of ammonite fossils. Ammonite is a mineral, but it may also be a metaphor for Mary, the tough, independent geologist.
Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) brings his wife, Charlotte (Ronan) to rest in the English seaside where Mary is digging up ammonite. The couple had lost a child and Charlotte needed rest to recover from her weakened condition. While Roderick is away, Charlotte joines Mary in her fossiling.
As Mary and Charlotte grow closer, they begin a passionate affair. The film depicts both their intimate love scenes and their emotional bond.
When Charlotte returns home, she writes to Mary. Eventually, Mary comes to the city for a visit. Charlotte has prepared a guest room in her lavish house, and expects Mary to come live with her. This is a bit too much too fast for Mary. Mary expects to return to her life of fossiling and worries Charlotte expects her to be a kept woman.
It appears Charlotte’s motivations were sincere. She really just wanted Mary to be close so they could continue their relationship, forbidden by British society at the time. However, she probably should have discussed it with Mary instead of springing it on her.
In the end, Mary goes to the museum to visit her piece on display. Charlotte shows up and they look at each other through the display glass. That’s the final shot of the movie. —Cheatsheet
