Therese (Rooney Mara) is a young woman working behind the toy counter of a New York department store. She has a boyfriend who wants her to marry him, but she's not so sure. Enter Carol (Cate Blanchett), a glamorous older woman, clearly wealthy, who is immediately taken with the shop assistant. She buys an expensive Xmas present for her daughter, and contrives to ensure that she and Therese will meet again.
What begins as a friendship develops into a full blown love affair, culminating in a long road trip. This is ended by the sordid intervention of a private investigator hired by Carol's husband to garner evidence of her moral laxity, which is then to be used to give him custody of the child as part of a divorce settlement. Carol returns to the city to defend what few rights the law affords her, and appeal to her spouse's better nature.
A bereft Therese builds a career as a photographer and gradually comes to accept that Carol will not be a part of her life. This expectation is confounded when the older woman finally gets her divorce settlement and Therese has to decide where her future lies.
In essence this a conventional love story at heart. But portrayed with such attention to the details of the period, both physically and morally, that it sweeps the viewer along into their world. There's some fine cinematography, and the direction is assured, but it's the performances that dominate. Blanchett and Rooney make for a charismatic leading duo, romantic but never overly sentimental. There are some lovely supporting roles, notably Kyle Chandler portraying Carol's husband as a man confused by his own emotions and the social expectations he cleaves to.
Highly recommended.
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