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Carol | 2015 | R | - 7.3.5

Set in the 1950s, a woman (Rooney Mara) working in a department store in New York City meets and becomes infatuated with an older woman (Cate Blanchett) with life changing results. Also with Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson, John Magaro, Cory Michael Smith, Kevin Crowley, Sadie Heim and Kk Heim. Directed by Todd Haynes. [1:58]

SEX/NUDITY 7 - A woman wearing a bathrobe stands behind another woman seated in a chair, the first woman unties her robe and leans over to kiss the second woman (we see deep cleavage and breasts but no nipples), they kiss passionately and move to the bed where the first woman opens the robe of the second woman (we see her bare breasts and abdomen); they continue to kiss and remove their robes as one woman moves down to the groin area of the other (we see her bare back and shoulders and oral sex is implied) and we see them asleep together later. Two women, fully clothed, hug and kiss in bed (sex is implied) and we see them sleeping later with bare shoulders exposed above sheets.
 A man kisses a woman on the cheek. A man kisses a woman and she says, "You shouldn't" and then leaves. A woman touches another woman's shoulder and the second woman reacts with a romantic expression. A woman caresses another woman's shoulders while the second woman plays the piano. Two women touch hands and gaze at each other in a few scenes. Two women look at each other with romantic interest across a crowded department store. A woman smells the perfume on another woman's neck. Two women gaze at each other across a restaurant table and one says, "I love you."
 Women wear low-cut evening gowns that reveal cleavage and bare shoulders at a party. A woman in a bathroom is shown with a wrap around her shoulders and we see bare shoulders, cleavage and upper chest. We see the outline of women's nipples through dress fabric in several scenes. We see a photograph of a woman sleeping and her bare shoulders are seen above a sheet covering her chest.
 A husband tries to hug his wife, she recoils and says that he is drunk; he tries again and he stumbles and falls on the ground. Men and women dance together at a party.
 We hear that a child is going to be taken away from her mother because of a "morality clause" and that there is a documented "pattern of behavior." A woman asks a man how many times he has been in love and he says, "I had sex with them, that's different"; she replies, "I'm different because we haven't gone all the way?" A woman tells another woman, "I have my eye on a redhead." A man tells a woman, "You have a crush on this woman" as she packs to go on a trip with her. A man talks to a woman in several scenes about traveling to Europe together and that he wants her to marry him (she is non-committal). A man tells a woman, "You look like a million bucks." A woman says, "Wine makes me feel dirty in a good way." Song lyrics include, "One mint Julep and I stole a kiss." A woman talks about a physical encounter with another woman years ago.

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A woman yells at a man and holds a gun on him for spying on her and filming her the night before; she pulls the trigger but the gun is not loaded. A woman finds a handgun in another woman's suitcase.
 An estranged husband yells at his wife and they argue about his taking their daughter away for Christmas and the wife does not want to join them. A husband tries to hug his wife, she recoils and says that he is drunk; they argue, he tries to hug her again and he stumbles and falls on the ground. A man pounds on a woman's door and yells at her.
 We see two men drunk and stumbling on a sidewalk after drinking in a bar and one falls down (no injuries are shown). A woman rides on the back of a bicycle behind a man and complains of it being cold.
 We hear that a child is going to be taken away from her mother because of a "morality clause" and that there is a documented "pattern of behavior." A woman in a department store speaks sternly to the staff and tells one woman, "Make it snappy." A man says, "It makes me want to vomit." A man says, "Employment is a curse." A woman talks about divorcing her husband.
 A woman vomits on the side of a road (we see goo and hear her coughing).

LANGUAGE 5 - At least 2 F-words, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (the movie jerk, jerk, nitwit, strange girl, selfish, martyr), 5 religious profanities (GD), 3 religious exclamations (Jesus Christ, For God's Sake, For Christ's Sake).

SUBSTANCE USE - Many men and women are shown drinking alcohol in a restaurant scene, a bartender pours a man a double whiskey and the man then orders one for the bartender as well (we do not see them drink), several men drink beer and a woman drinks wine in a bar (two men are seen drunk later), a woman thanks a man for staying sober so that he could drive her home, two women order martinis in a restaurant and we see them drink, men and women are shown drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes at a party, a man and a woman drink beers in an office, a woman drinks alcohol in her home, a woman drinks a beer and another woman drinks champagne in a hotel room, two women drink alcohol in a hotel room, people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes in a restaurant, several people are shown drinking beer and wine in a bar, people have wine glasses poured at their places at a dinner, and people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes at a party. Many people are shown smoking cigarettes in a restaurant scene, two women smoke cigarettes in a restaurant, a woman smokes in a car, a woman complains about having run out of cigarettes, people smoke cigarettes on a train, people smoke cigarettes on a street, a woman smokes cigarettes in a diner, we see cigarette butts in an ashtray, and many men smoke cigarettes in a news room.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Divorce, homosexuality, child custody, patterns of behavior, love vs. physical relationships, resolutions, explanations, fear.

MESSAGE - Love is difficult.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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