Carol (2015)

It is one of those rare movies whose protagonists one cannot imagine portrayed by anyone but the movie’s actual stars. One sees immediately why Carol (Cate Blanchett) falls in love with Therese (Rooney Mara), from the first sight. One sees immediately what Therese finds so irresistible about Carol. What follows is a sequence of yeses, to oneself and to each other, that—that, and cash—infuse the film with a much greater sense of freedom than would have been warranted by the stifling attitudes of the times and the timeless prejudice against personal happiness alone. One can be decisive in one’s choices because they reflect examined preferences or because they reflect a firm commitment to such examination. It was this decisiveness that both lovers found so attractive in each other—that, and the class transcending the circumstance. Each one had a version of the other live inside her mind long before their meeting in flesh.