'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' Ranked the 'Best Film of the Last 10 Years'
The last decade has seen its fair share of incredible movie releases. Collider recently shared a list that showcased some of the best Hollywood has to offer since 2016. The March 2026 ranking of the "10 most perfect movies of the last 10 years" featured acclaimed recent films like 2019's Parasite, Moonlight from 2016, The Lighthouse released in 2019, and 2016's Arrival.
The publication named 2019's French romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire the top movie that came out following 2016. According to Collider, artist Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse's (Adèle Haenel) painful and profound liaison makes for a compelling watch.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire has a score of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 95 on Metacritic.
Noémie Merlant & Adèle Haenel Shared Their Thoughts About 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' in a 2020 Joint Interview
In a 2020 interview with HeyUGuys, Merlant and Haenel shared their thoughts about starring in Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Merlant said she was immediately drawn to Céline Sciamma's script.
"I was like, "Oh, my God. This is an incredible love story, and in a vision, it tells it in a new way, and this way is something we've missed. It's [the] female gaze, and [the] female gaze is what? It's something we need more [of]. It's our story, our stories, and this film is all about that. It's all about love and all about art," said Merlant in the 2020 interview.
Merlant also shared that she knew the film was an important project before its production. Haenel agreed with her co-star about the importance of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which was also directed by Sciamma.
"I was very excited to work on this film because I think, 'Okay, our goal is very high, so we have a lot of work ahead to actually fulfill it.' It's more like, 'Okay, now you go, you are on board, now you have a lot of responsibility because this could be great actually,'" said the actress.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 3:49 PM.