Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Carolina Caroline:
The Mastermind
Kelly Reichardt continues to be one of the most observant American filmmakers, and The Mastermind is a perfect fit for her patient, detail-driven gaze. Where Showing Up tracked an artist circling her own potential and Night Moves watched activists fumble toward consequence, this new film follows another of her quietly blinkered strivers. Josh O’Connor plays James Blaine “JB” Mooney, a small-town amateur who has mapped out an “easy” art-gallery heist, convinced meticulous lists can substitute for competence. He forgets the one variable he cannot control, the people he brings along, and the plan collapses in slow motion as his frequent gallery visits and affection for art make him an obvious suspect.
A Perfect World
A Perfect World is one of those films that could only have been made during a very particular stretch of Hollywood history—a mid-budget, adult-focused drama anchored by big movie stars like Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood, with Eastwood also stepping in behind the camera fresh off his Oscar-winning triumph with Unforgiven. That the film managed to gross $135 million worldwide feels almost unthinkable by today’s standards, where intimate, morally complex dramas rarely draw crowds on that scale.
Raising Arizona
Following up the moody, low-budget neo-noir Blood Simple with the manic energy of Raising Arizona feels like one of the most jarring—but fascinating—turnarounds in any director’s early career. Joel and Ethan Coen showed with their debut that they could do calculated suspense and procedural dread. With Raising Arizona, released in 1987, they proved they could also do madcap absurdity with just as much confidence. It’s a wildly different film in tone and structure, but it showcases the Coens’ command of style and their range as filmmakers.
Snack Shack
Snack Shack is an uncomplicated good time, anchored by two excellent and innocent performances by Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle as 14-year-olds A.J. and Moose, respectively. Director Adam Rehmeier flexes his ability to tap into the mind of today’s youth and deliver a movie that is laugh out loud funny with a charming, heartfelt story.
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde feels more and more definitive as the years pass from when it was released. Warren Beatty ushers in a new generation of movies that are aggressively violent and angry, expelling the moral compass as a bylaw of the film industry. Faye Dunaway co-stars in this 1967 mega-hit.
One of Them Days
Keke Palmer is undeniably magnetic, and One of Them Days serves as another showcase for her effortless charm and comedic timing. Directed by Lawrence Lamont, the film largely exists to let Palmer shine, and she doesn’t disappoint, carrying the movie’s 97-minute runtime with infectious energy.
Didi
Didi is the debut film from writer/director Sean Wang, who is telling an autobiographical story of growing up Asian in the late 2000s. Izaac Wang plays the impressionable 13-year-old stand-in of the director, who navigates learning to flirt, skate, and live in a three-generation household of women.
Roofman
Roofman is the kind of “they don’t make them like this anymore” adult caper that suits Channing Tatum better than almost anything. He dials down the movie-star wattage and leans into hangdog charm as Jeffrey Manchester, a serial McDonald’s robber who perfects the art of dropping through rooftops, then graduates to a more audacious escape-and-hide scheme after he is finally caught. Derek Cianfrance treats the true story with a straight face and a curious heart, finding room for procedure, romance, and the melancholy of a guy who is always one step from being found out.
Sacramento
Sacramento is a good-not-great entry into the buddy road trip genre. It won’t blow you away, but if you’re a fan of its cast—Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, and Kristen Stewart included—there’s enough charm here to make it worth the ride.
Zola
Zola is an A24 film that fully embraces the chaotic, anything-goes energy of its source material—a viral Twitter thread detailing a Florida road trip gone terribly wrong. Directed by Janicza Bravo, the film blends Scorsese-like brashness with Sean Baker-style realism, offering a flashy, unfiltered look at the underground world of sex work. At times, it’s as glamorous as it is grimy, a fever dream that refuses to look away from its characters’ choices, even when things spiral out of control.
READ MORE: Movies Like One of Them Days, Movies Like Zola
