I think favorite movies might fall into two different realms. One is when a movie slowly grows on you and you find it becoming a part of you. I've had that experience with Frances Ha. I can watch Frances Ha while cleaning my room or folding my laundry. It can be background noise and I'll still smile subconsciously at it. But it doesn't need my 100% attention at all times.
And then there are movies like these. Portrait of a Lady on Fire does what movies are meant to do in the first place, pull you in so deep that looking away would be disrespectful, it would be wrong. I don't know that a better movie exists to be perfectly and melodramatically honest.
There's another difference in favorites. I get why Frances Ha doesn't work for everyone. Frances can be annoying and childish and it's in black and white and you could argue that nothing really happens and that most of the characters are insufferable. I don't agree, but I see where they are coming from. It's not for everyone.
But this is different. I don't know why the world hasn't stopped moving because a movie this good has been made. I don't know why there is time on this earth that's being spent not talking about the existence of this movie. There isn't just one moment where this film knocks on your feet, there's at least six. And once you've seen it the first time, it leaves you with a fresh perspective and meaning, making the second watch equally if not more fruitful.
There's something special about art and film being able to be this good. On one hand, it seems a little unfair that we all can't be as good as Céline Sciamma, but on the other, isn't it a miracle we have her at all?