{"id":2446,"date":"2025-08-01T02:23:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T06:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2026-10-15T10:14:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T14:14:43","slug":"carol-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"Carol-2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carol-2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Todd Haynes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #117<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #308<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"80058700\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed December 27, 2015<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’d compare this film to Brokeback Mountain (2005), but with a female lead.<\/p>\n

Carol is a story of hidden romance and secret lives in the early 1950s, when it was difficult to lead an alternative lifestyle openly (or even in hiding!).<\/p>\n

The film is a marvel of honest storytelling, exquisite class, and grace, with excellent cinematography and a heartwarming tale.<\/p>\n

Todd Haynes directs Carol, a director known for films about doomed romances facing societal challenges. Carol is a wonderful film.<\/p>\n

The film features two equal female leads: Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), a gorgeous, sophisticated socialite.\u00a0 She exudes confidence and style in everything that she does.<\/p>\n

Always perfectly dressed and well made up, with manicured fingernails, her mannerisms convey confidence and control.<\/p>\n

She is married to a wealthy businessman, Harge (Kyle Chandler), who is madly in love with her, yet they are divorcing because of her “problem”.<\/p>\n

The fact that Carol is a lesbian is known to Harge, and they share somewhat of an understanding and a five-year-old daughter. Their divorce is difficult.<\/p>\n

Therese Belevit (Rooney Mara) is the polar opposite of Carol.<\/p>\n

Young and na\u00efve, she is a part-time shopgirl, fascinated by photography. She dates men and goes to parties, living out a typical young girl’s life.<\/p>\n

When Carol and Therese meet at the store where Therese works, they are immediately enamored with one another, and a friendship develops. Both seem caught off guard, and the chemistry between the two actresses sizzles.<\/p>\n

The focus is the budding romance between Carol and Therese, and the societal differences they face, including the age gap between them.<\/p>\n

I found the chemistry between Blanchett and Mara quite evident.<\/p>\n

Worlds apart, the two women somehow find each other and form a bond. Their relationship is tender, gentle, and carefully presented to the audience. They are neither animalistic nor barbaric in a sexual way, but rather sweet.<\/p>\n

When Therese takes a spontaneous car trip from New York to Chicago, conflict develops with her boyfriend, Richard.<\/p>\n

He wants them to run off to Paris, but Therese wants to be with Carol. He breaks up with Therese and accuses her of having a crush on Carol.<\/p>\n

Therese and Carol’s romance is finally consummated in a Midwestern hotel. It is New Year’s Eve, and Todd Haynes shoots this scene in a romantic, spontaneous way.<\/p>\n

They are celebrating the holiday, but both are blue and vulnerable. It makes perfect sense that they would turn to one another.<\/p>\n

The film explores many emotions Carol and Therese face: love, glee, anger, rage, confusion, rejection, and loneliness. These emotions and the film’s tone are why it succeeds.<\/p>\n

From an acting perspective, both Blanchett and Mara are great, but I prefer Blanchett’s performance. She embodies this character.<\/p>\n

From when she orders a martini dry with one olive, to how she brazenly approaches Therese, she is a woman in control. But when family issues arise, she becomes vulnerable, and we see her as human.<\/p>\n

Beyond the interesting story of a love facing many challenges, the film’s look is grand. The sets, hairstyles, clothes, and makeup are graceful and rich.<\/p>\n

Overall, everyone looks great, and it paints a perfect picture of the 1950s.<\/p>\n

A progressive Hollywood tale, Carol showcases glamour and great acting, and sends a powerful message of acceptance and struggle during a difficult time to be “different” and fulfill one’s life.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Actress-Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actress-Rooney Mara, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Feature, Best Director-Todd Haynes, Best Female Lead-Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography (won)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carol-2015 Director Todd Haynes Starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara Top 250 Films #117 Scott’s Review #308 Reviewed December 27, 2015 Grade: A I’d compare this film to Brokeback Mountain (2005), but with a female lead. Carol is a story of hidden romance and secret lives in the early 1950s, when it was difficult to lead … Continue reading Carol-2015<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,192,362,41,211,339,122,222,7464],"tags":[7907,2061,4464,7362,3396,2991,3415,2289],"class_list":["post-2446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-movie-reviews","category-dramas","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-romantic-dramas","category-top-250-films","tag-117-favorite-film","tag-cate-blanchett","tag-jake-lacy","tag-john-magaro","tag-kyle-chandler","tag-rooney-mara","tag-sarah-paulson","tag-todd-haynes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2446"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24820,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions\/24820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}