Though it’s a worthwhile watch in every regard, the brilliant performances alone can be the reason for one to make time for this one!

While Blanchett not surprisingly is great as this very rich and polished yet dangerously brittle woman who starts off as the more confident and even a tad pushy one in the affair, Mara is a revelation as a girl who is as vulnerable as she is generous.

As a showcase for Cate Blanchett’s acting prowess, it is wonderful. As a meditation on a love that defies social norms, it leaves room for so much more.

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, Oscar-nominated Carol is a triumph of its lead actors. Cate Blanchett sweeps through the film in a flurry of lipstick and furs. Stylised to her finger-tips, Blanchett makes everything Carol does, down to eating the olive from a Martini, an act of sensual fashion.

Haynes and his principal actors manage to convey the acute loneliness felt by those in unconventional relationships that society frowns upon. The agony and the ecstasy are all conveyed in fleeting, nuanced moments through exquisitely drawn body language and facial expressiveness.

Overall, “Carol” is an unapologetic, slightly mischievous, visually rich, arthouse drama that may have a crossover appeal.

Carol is that rare example of a film that is nearly flawless in design, story and performances. The emotional conflicts are so powerful that it’s worth a watch more than once.