When it comes to mood and milieu, writer-director Francis Lee prefers something bare, austere and quiet. In fact, it was the harmonious union of these severe qualities that furnished his 2017 feature debut, “God’s Own Country,” with a daring edge and lyrical spirit. These aforesaid attributes turn up again (and with abundance) in “Ammonite,” Lee’s fictional tale built around the real-life, self-taught 19th century paleontologist Mary Anning. Yet this time, they curiously hold back his already understated film, telling an often wordless, stern and wind-swept tale of romance between the financially strapped recluse Anning (Kate Winslet) and the married, sickly, upper-class Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan). While all the makings of a soul-wrenchingly impossible affair seem to be here, “Ammonite” sadly feels too distant, underpowered and colorless for its own good, as if somewhere down the line, its heart had died and hardened like a fossil waiting to be discovered.