Already a critical favorite, here’s our first real glimpse of Carol, a romantic drama from Oscar and Emmy nominated filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, HBO’s Mildred Pierce). Based on the groundbreaking novel (also known as The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Carol centers around the romance of a female department store clerk and an unhappily married older woman in the 1950s New York. The film- which stars Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Rooney Mara (Her)- made its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival where Mara won the Best Actress prize and where the film earned strong early notices.
The teaser trailer- set to Margaret Whiting’s rendition of the standard “My Foolish Heart”- shows more than it tells, mostly by way of the beatific compositions of Oscar nominated cinematographer Edward Lachman (Far From Heaven). The trailer arrives just as Carol has been announced as a gala screening at the upcoming London Film Festival. Carol is already set to play the New York Film Festival and likely to be slotted at the Telluride Film Festival (however that festival doesn’t announce its screenings in advance). All of which could bode well for The Weinstein Company title as it tries to gather enough to buzz for awards season.
Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave), Kyle Chandler (The Wolf of Wall Street), Jake Lacey (Obvious Child), Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia), Corey Michael Smith (Olive Kittridge) and Joey Magaro (Unbroken) co-star. Phyllis Nagy (Mrs. Harris) penned the adaptation.
Carol opens in U.S. theaters on November 20, 2015.