I’ve probably watched Carol about 100 times since it was released on iTunes, having first seen it in the movie theater. I’m always struck by the perfectly executed see-saw between Carol’s demeanor and Therese’s. At the beginning, we see a fully colored, richly detailed Carol: strong, confident, swaggering, almost predatory in her approach to Therese. In contrast, Therese is a mere sketch, no sense of the depth that lies inside. Not that she’s weak or lesser — we just can’t see what Therese is. Toward the end, starting with the scene at Carol’s house with Abby, we see a broken Carol, aware that she has lost everything that she cared most about — Rindy and Therese. It’s writ starkly on her face and in her eyes. At almost the same time, we see a new Therese, striding confidently toward her future, now wearing the strong red that used to mark Carol. I think the unspoken “I miss you” phone call is the point of pivot: Carol sinks as Therese begins to rise. Carol’s increasingly desperate attempts at forcing a “yes” from Therese at the Ritz signal her crashing to the ground. Therese’s white-hot fury in that scene makes it one of of my favorite scenes in any movie, by any actor, ever. It’s magnificent. As she walks across the floor at the Oak Room, balance is restored and Carol and Therese can see each other as equals, on the same level at last.