Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Carol

Todd Haynes sumptuous period drama brings together Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett as a pair of New Yorkers who happenstance brings together and who society tries to tear apart. Mara and Blanchett are spectacular in this fascinating drama about gay rights in the 1950s.

Gay subjects have never been anathema to Haynes. His films have shown a bright light on queer culture and queer cinema in ways many of his contemporaries haven’t. This, though, is perhaps his most forward approach to the concept to date, bringing the audience a beautiful depiction of a lesbian romance that’s deliberate, compelling and handsomely constructed.

Mara plays the shopgirl who falls for Blanchett’s isolated housewife. As Mara emerges from her shell, Blanchett struggles to keep her husband (Kyle Chandler) from taking away their daughter (Sindy & KK Heim), the only truly exemplary thing in her life. As the chess pieces are moved, this simple drama deftly utilizes Ed Lachman’s gorgeous cinematography to bring artistic life to the drama on screen. It’s a significant, superlative film that everyone must see.