Carolina Caroline Electric Chemistry Powers This Modern Bonnie & Clyde Crime Romance

A Spark That Ignites The Journey

Adam Carter Rehmeier’s work has grown on me with each new directorial outing. Diners in America grabbed my attention, and while I wasn’t as high on Snack Shack as others, I was again struck by his uncanny ability to capture the Americana of rural small town life. He’s also proven himself quite skilled at getting the most out of his performers, with Gabriel Labelle exploding with smug charm and impeccable comedic timing and Kyle Gallner tapping into Rehmeier’s wavelength. Carolina Caroline is his best work to date; a perfect blend of all of his filmmaking sensibilities and his broader ideas of how he sees the world. It’s beautifully constructed and restrained, letting his likable characters carry out their antics to an inevitable conclusion that is both deeply romantic and effectively tragic.

The real power in Carolina Caroline though is the undeniable chemistry between Gallner and Samara Weaving. From the moment they meet at a rundown gas station in the middle of nowhere, you can feel the sparks fly off the screen without them saying a word. There is an instant connection between their characters and the trifecta of two incredible leads and a competent director create an unforgettable movie romance. Violent delights have violent ends, and Carolina Caroline lures you in with its lead performers and their electric chemistry oozing with sexy danger and before you know it you’re as trapped as they are. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel – it is unequivocally a Bonnie & Clyde reimagining updated to fit the modern times and layered with an Americana aesthetic – but thanks to Weaving and Gallner Carolina Caroline is nonetheless effective.

Fall In Love, Do Crimes

Directed by Rehmeier from a script by William Thomas Dean IV, Carolina Caroline follows Caroline (Weaving), a small town girl stuck in a dead-end Texas town with big dreams. Still wrestling with the loss of her mother who left when she was young, Caroline is always searching for something new and exciting, held back by the confines of her surroundings. That is until Oliver (Gallner) rolls into town; a smooth as Tennessee whiskey drifter and con man who is immediately struck by Caroline’s beauty and naivety.

It’s love at first con, and the two decide to take a road trip together in hopes of reaching South Carolina where her mom is said to be living. Along the way, the cons get bigger and bigger, until eventually they start robbing banks. It’s all fun and games until reality sets in, and their life of no rules and ultimate freedom just may cost them everything. What would you do for love?

Performances and Chemistry Light It Up

Weaving has never been better, and I say that as someone who believes she doesn’t have a bad performance in her. She is almost always the best part of a bad movie she’s in, but Carolina Caroline finally gives her something more meaty than just a gorgeous scream queen to sink her teeth into. She so perfectly captures the difficult balance of vulnerability and resolve, a woman with no fear but never completely fearless. Caroline could easily be a caricature of a small town girl who falls for the bad boy, but Weaving imbues her with so much life and longing she feels tactile and alive. There’s a scene near the end where the reality of a life crime sets in and the consequences become real, and Weaving’s work and conveyed anxiety is astounding.

It helps too that she has a game scene partner in Gallner, a performer who continues to thrive in the outer rim of independent cinema and shine bright with burning cool. He more than matches her freak in Carolina Caroline, and there’s a softness beneath his collected and hard edged exterior. He makes the simplest con feel cool as a cucumber, and even when he’s ranting against capitalism and the systems in place to keep us down, there’s a sincerity and believability to his delivery. You put those two together and you’ve got a romance crime drama road trip movie I could watch forever. The two of them falling in love and committing crimes is somehow the most romantic story of the year, and Carolina Caroline won me over big time.

Heat Check From Kyra Sedgwick

Not to make this review all about the performances, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the fast ball heat check from Kyra Sedgwick. Ever the reliable actress, Sedgwick comes on so strong for a character with maybe 5 minutes of screen time. Her scene in Carolina Caroline is brief but devastating, adding a heavy dose of brevity to the realities of hardships and heartaches that are fueling Caroline’s search for answers and fulfillment. Rehmeier proves an expert at getting the most out of the simplest of settings, with some of the most impactful scenes taking place in tiny dive bars and small town hotels. Sedgwick did not need to go this hard, but Carolina Caroline is all the better for her just showing up for a day, crushing it and then disappearing.

More Than Just a Bonnie & Clyde Rework

On its surface, Carolina Caroline is simple good girl bad boy romance that does very little to differentiate itself from its inspirations. But thanks to the electric chemistry from Weaving and Gallner and the deft directorial hand of Rehmeier, the sweet yet tragic love story transforms into something much more meaningful and emotional. There’s an empathy he gives to his characters that make them hard not to fall for, and he approaches the narrative with such sincerity and confidence it becomes impossible not to appreciate the final product. It may wear its inspirations on its sleeve, but Carolina Caroline never feels dull or stuck beneath its genre tropes.

Rehmeier has something to say; not just about love but about American life, and if you listen closely you can find something quite profound inside of the quick cons and bank robberies. It never drifts and always moves forward, employing propulsive montages along the road and makes investing in these characters worth the effort. the 35mm vibe (it’s not actually in 35mm but feels like it should be) works to bring the often under seen and under experienced rural living to life. Who knew falling in love and doing crimes could be so anti-late stage capitalism?

Final Thoughts

I was dialed into every moment these two lovers spend together, and the climax left me in tears. Romance and tragedy go hand in hand sometimes, and Carolina Caroline blends both to create a hopelessly romantic movie packed with heists, cons, and thrilling chases while never forgetting the longing present in these lost souls just trying to make it the world. Carolina Caroline is one of the best films of the year. Certainly the best from Weaving out of the 3 she’s released this year, and a new level for Gallner’s onscreen magnetism. It’s also a best from Rehmeier, who seems to have distilled all of his skills and ideas into a passionate, Bonnie & Clyde love story. I fell in love with Carolina Caroline and I think you will too.

Now how about I give you one more and we make it an even $20?

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