Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara play star-crossed lovers trapped in a 1950s snow globe in Carol.
But can they shake off their era?
Carolis perhaps the most visually stunning of Haynes films to date.
That pattern includes Therese Belivet (Mara), a holiday clerk at a posh department store.
Therese also has an immediate and unshakably shared desire for Carol.
As Harge later says about his wife, Bold.
So of course, it must be destroyed.
Carolmakes an excellent point about its setting and the unspoken passions and desires that draw people together.
It is also on those counts that both Blanchett and Mara shine.
If she did, people might catch on.
Essentially a love story that runs entirely under the surface,Carolis an elegantly regal ornament.
It demands admiration on the world-weary Carols terms.
But perhaps it should have embraced more of Thereses youthful drive.
The result is a wonderfully acted and staged film that is nonetheless painfully polite.
Except for the fireplace; this movies temperature is too low for that.
This review was originally published on Oct. 11 after its New York Film Festival premiere.
Rating:
3 out of 5
