Carol
Two women, 1950s New York, and a great deal of looking.
A period romance where the women get to keep each other.
- 2015
- 118 min
- 94% on Rotten Tomatoes
- 7.3 on IMDb
- #romance
- #drama
Our take
A shop girl and a wealthy woman going through a divorce meet across a department store counter and drive west together. Todd Haynes adapts Patricia Highsmith’s novel — the one she published under a pseudonym because it let its lesbians have a future — with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara doing an extraordinary amount of work through glass, gloves and mirrors.
Everything is displaced into texture and framing because nothing could be said out loud in 1952, which makes the few moments of directness land like a slap. The final shot across a restaurant is one of the great endings.
Where to watch Carol
Stream
YouTube TV
Cinemax Apple TV Channel
Rent
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Spectrum On Demand
Buy
- Amazon Video
- Apple TV Store
- Google Play Movies
- YouTube
- Fandango At Home
Streaming availability data provided by JustWatch. Availability changes often and is checked daily — confirm on the provider before paying for anything.
Scores
Ours
- Jibbi Score — 4.5 out of 5 rainbows. A period romance where the women get to keep each other.
Everyone else’s
- Rotten Tomatoes — 94%, via OMDb.
- IMDb — 7.3 out of 10 from 152,897 votes, via OMDb.
- Metacritic — 94 out of 100, via OMDb.
- TMDB — 7.5 out of 10 from 3,990 votes, refreshed daily.
The plot, officially
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Synopsis and poster via TMDB.