Carol (2015)

Wesley Morris This is a slender movie that Haynes gives plenty of antique atmosphere.

David Sims Haynes taps into universal anxieties about love and relationships without ever letting go of the sense of imprisonment that came with being gay in the 1950s.

Ty Burr Haynes maintains the film's temperature at a low simmer and expertly brings it to the boil, but while "Carol" builds to a scene of intense eroticism, it's mostly about all the things you can't reach out and touch.

Will Leitch This is about two people who didn't know what their lives were until they met each other, then scrambling, in their muted, buttoned-up way, to figure out what happens next. Haynes loves them so much that he believes they can. You will too.

J. R. Jones As a love story this left me unsatisfied, though I enjoyed the lush period trappings and the flattering sense of how enlightened I am compared to people in the 1950s.

Matthew Lickona The lesbian affair at its heart is rendered with intelligence and care, and if there are speeches to be made, they are happily few, and far more personal than political.

Tom Long Will love conquer all? Probably not. The bigger question is whether it will endure. The lush, beautifully acted and shot "Carol" answers this with a sweet smile.

Calvin Wilson "Carol" demonstrates that a period piece can engagingly comment on modern times.

Ann Hornaday "Carol" possesses the same quiet, catlike powers of its magnetic title character: It swirls around to ambush you ... and make you swoon.