Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Carol is distinguished above all by its performances — Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are both exceptional, with Blanchett delivering one of her finest, most controlled turns — and by Edward Lachman's lush, grain-heavy 16mm cinematography that evokes the period and emotional interiority with rare precision. The plot, adapted faithfully from Patricia Highsmith's novel, is quietly involving but intentionally restrained, leaving some viewers at arm's length. Novelty sits in the middle: Haynes crafts a distinctive, melancholy mood and the film has an unmistakable aesthetic voice, but its narrative beats — forbidden love, societal repression, road trip revelation — follow recognisable contours. The ending is bittersweet and tonally consistent but ambiguous in a way that feels earned rather than surprising.