Based on novel The Price of Salt and set in 1952, when same-sex love stories were expected to end in shame and tragedy, Patricia Highsmith’s tale broke with convention in its depiction of two very different women drawn into an affair. Therese, as played by Rooney Mara, is a young department store clerk who encounters Cate Blanchett’s very glamorous but indifferently married Carol. As their attraction develops, they must navigate the social constraints of the period, balancing their love against the costs that come with their relationship.

BE ADVISED– This film is rated R, with copious amounts of 50’s era smoking and drinking, brief nudity, profanity and Eisenhower-era ennui.