Carousel Film Review: Life’s a Gentle Ride

Carousel puts a distinctly soft, meditative spin on a familiar type of story, making the most out of great performances and calm meditations on life and love.

Though their passion for each other hasn’t died, it’s compromised by the ripple effect of Noah’s recent divorce, especially in the toll it’s taking on his anxious daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.).

As I somewhat expected, Carousel has a less story-driven, much more slice-of-life approach than your typical romance. Though relationships and plots threads do slowly progress, a lot of time is spent just taking it easy and watching these people live what is currently their lives. Again, Lambert’s touch makes this more of a boon than a detriment. There’s a coziness to watching Noah at work as a doctor, or a group of friends shooting the breeze, or even the montages of time passing through the Cleveland neighborhood each day.

Of course, the dramatic and romantic tension breaks up that flow, and it’s here where Pine and Slate really stand out. Their amicable chemistry is allowed to breathe early and often, boosted by the same charmingly offbeat dialogue gifted to most of the actors. But you can still sense the rift that’s kept them apart in the first place. The performances are at their best during an extended argument in the middle that plays out much softer and more somber than how most movies would handle it, which makes it both more jarring and relatable.

I’m a bit more torn on the role of Noah’s daughter. Forston gives a great performance too, but her character’s difficulties in coping with her recently changed life only occasionally have the punch they need. I think the movie is trying to not make it her main defining character trait, which is commendable, but the result is that sometimes what we’re told about how rough she has it doesn’t always match what we’re shown. In fact, she does something major with repercussions completely offscreen that comes up for the first time when she’s discussing it after the fact. I genuinely thought a scene was somehow missing in my viewing link.

The low-key, meditative pacing and direction of Carousel may add to its charm, but it also lessens the impact of the bigger, less everyday events in general. The movie’s broadly about how hard it is to find peace with life when everything you know can so easily and quickly be undercut. These points are illustrated nicely, but the undercutting events themselves – or rather, their aftermath – are given no more urgency than the everyday interactions. Like with the daughter character individually, the way we’re shown something doesn’t always match how we’re told it should make us feel.

The look of Carousel put me off a bit at first, but I quickly grew to like it. There’s some unconventional use of negative space (like putting it behind characters’ heads) and intentional obscuring of characters mid-conversation. I wasn’t sure what to make of these choices at first, until I realized they were helping me feel the emptiness and disconnect lingering between certain people at certain times. The color palette is also pretty muted courtesy of Dustin Lane (Lambert’s returning cinematographer from Sometimes I Think About Dying), but it has a bit more of a grainy pop and life that gives it an immersive quality rather than dullness.

Carousel is probably not going to leave a lasting impression in the minds of anyone who sees it, outside of a few critical scenes. It’s a laid-back take on the kind of story you’ve probably seen somewhere before, and that familiarity makes me doubt there’s any world where this is a masterpiece. But I still love how Rachel Lambert sees the world, and I appreciate Carousel for that same simmering approach alongside its performances, pristine cinematography, and thoughtfulness regarding what makes changing life so difficult. If that sounds like it’s enough for you, hop on board and enjoy the slow, gentle ride.

Carousel had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2026 and will be screened again, in person and online, until February 2. The film will also be screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February.