From Todd Haynes, the director of Far From Heaven and HBO’s Mildred Pierce, in the movie Carol, starring Cate Blanchett, set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk dreams of a better life and falls for an older, married woman.
In 1952 New York CIty, Therese Belivet, a lonely young woman, is starting out her adult life in Manhattan and looking for her chance to break through into her dream job as a theater set designer. She is dating a young man, named Richard, whom she does not love and does not want to have sex with. On a long and monotonous day working in the toy section of a department store, Therese is struck by an elegant and beautiful woman in her late 30s, whom she serves. The woman, Carol Aird, gives her address to Therese in order to have her purchases delivered. On an impulse, Therese sends Carol a Christmas card to her home address. Carol is is going through a difficult separation and divorce from her husband, and is herself quite lonely. Therese develops a strong attachment to Carol, but she is unsure how to understand her feelings towards this older woman. Carol, who once had a same-sex tryst with her best friend, Abby, is also drawn to Therese, but realizes her feelings could jeopardize her custody battle with her soon to be ex-husband over their only daughter.
Carol is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith.
Carol debuted at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
