Carol
6 Oscar Nominations
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
What critics thought
Carol landed as one of the most celebrated films of the decade, with critics singling out Haynes's period-precise direction, Blanchett and Mara's complementary performances, and Ed Lachman's Super 16mm cinematography as the film's chief glories. The source material is largely treated as an asset rather than a burden, and Phyllis Nagy's screenplay earns consistent praise for what it withholds as much as what it says. Notably absent from the reception is significant dissent — this is one of the rare cases where critical consensus and critical passion pointed in exactly the same direction.
“Elegant restraint is the film's watchword ... In this enjoyably deliberate film, each shot and scene is carefully composed to pay homage to 50s cinema, yet infused with an emotional ambiguity which feels decidedly contemporary.”
Kate Stables·Sight & Sound
“At once ardent and analytical, cerebral and swooning, Carol is a study in human magnetism, in the physics and optics of eros.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“What's remarkable about Carol is that it seems to exist entirely in the present moment—to be precise, in that electric, elastic, heart-stopping/heart-racing present of romantic desire. It is a film composed of gestures and glances, its delicacy a veiled promise of abandon. And it could not exist without the extraordinary performances of Blanchett and Mara.”
Amy Taubin·Film Comment
“Carol is a performance of a performance, whereby codes and signals convey the most essential stuff of life, while the kabuki of being 'normal' plays out with the carefully cultivated—and patently false—perfection of the toy train village Carol buys from Therese at their first meeting.”
Ann Hornaday·The Washington Post
“Camera virtuoso Edward Lachman finds visual poetry in the hothouse eroticism that envelops Carol and Therese, an amateur photographer who keeps framing Carol in her lens. Blanchett, a dream walking in Sandy Powell's frocks, delivers a master class in acting. And Mara is flawless ... [it's] a romantic spellbinder that cuts deep.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorTodd Haynes
StarringCate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson
ComposerCarter Burwell
Carol
6 Oscar Nominations
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
What critics thought
Carol landed as one of the most celebrated films of the decade, with critics singling out Haynes's period-precise direction, Blanchett and Mara's complementary performances, and Ed Lachman's Super 16mm cinematography as the film's chief glories. The source material is largely treated as an asset rather than a burden, and Phyllis Nagy's screenplay earns consistent praise for what it withholds as much as what it says. Notably absent from the reception is significant dissent — this is one of the rare cases where critical consensus and critical passion pointed in exactly the same direction.
“Elegant restraint is the film's watchword ... In this enjoyably deliberate film, each shot and scene is carefully composed to pay homage to 50s cinema, yet infused with an emotional ambiguity which feels decidedly contemporary.”
Kate Stables·Sight & Sound
“At once ardent and analytical, cerebral and swooning, Carol is a study in human magnetism, in the physics and optics of eros.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“What's remarkable about Carol is that it seems to exist entirely in the present moment—to be precise, in that electric, elastic, heart-stopping/heart-racing present of romantic desire. It is a film composed of gestures and glances, its delicacy a veiled promise of abandon. And it could not exist without the extraordinary performances of Blanchett and Mara.”
Amy Taubin·Film Comment
“Carol is a performance of a performance, whereby codes and signals convey the most essential stuff of life, while the kabuki of being 'normal' plays out with the carefully cultivated—and patently false—perfection of the toy train village Carol buys from Therese at their first meeting.”
Ann Hornaday·The Washington Post
“Camera virtuoso Edward Lachman finds visual poetry in the hothouse eroticism that envelops Carol and Therese, an amateur photographer who keeps framing Carol in her lens. Blanchett, a dream walking in Sandy Powell's frocks, delivers a master class in acting. And Mara is flawless ... [it's] a romantic spellbinder that cuts deep.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorTodd Haynes
StarringCate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson
ComposerCarter Burwell