Shoutout to Adam Rehmeier. At a time when many discussions about movies seems to eventually circle back to someone declaring that “they don’t make them like they used to,” Rehmeier continues quietly proving otherwise. His films aren’t built around massive budgets, franchise potential, or elaborate visual effects. They’re star vehicles in the purest sense of the term: modestly scaled stories that know exactly what lane they’re occupying and squeeze every ounce of value out of charismatic performers.
Snack Shack was one of my favorite revelations of 2024, and Carolina Caroline follows neatly in its footsteps. It doesn’t quite reach the same heights, but it proves that the previous film wasn’t a fluke.
This time around, Rehmeier turns his attention toward a pseudo-Bonnie and Clyde story, casting Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner as a pair of small-town criminals whose appetite for thrills gradually pushes them far beyond anything they originally imagined.
For Caroline (Weaving), it’s about escape. She’s tired of small-town life, tired of predictability, and tired of feeling like the future has already been mapped out for her. The prospect of living on the edge appeals to her because it’s the exact opposite of the life her parents built. That push-and-pull is especially effective in the scenes she shares with her father Hank, played with remarkable warmth by Jon Gries. He’s so sweet and genuine throughout the film that you almost wish Carolina Caroline was willing to spend even more time with him.
For Oliver, things are a little simpler. Or perhaps a little more dangerous. Caroline’s energy is intoxicating, and Gallner plays Oliver as someone who spends most of the film trying to keep pace with a force of nature. He’s a petty criminal from the outset, but one who rationalizes his behavior through a Robin Hood-esque philosophy. He takes from systems, not people. At least that’s what he tells himself.
Naturally, that logic becomes much harder to maintain when your crimes start escalating. A scam targeting gas station clerks gradually evolves into increasingly reckless robberies and spur-of-the-moment heists that seem destined to fail from the second they’re conceived. Watching Oliver continuously convince himself that he’s still operating under some moral code becomes one of the more interesting aspects of the film.
The biggest reason any of this works, though, is the casting. Weaving has spent the last few years bouncing around genre projects that never quite seemed interested in utilizing everything she brings to the table. Whether it was Borderline, Eenie Meanie, or Over Your Dead Body, there was always a lingering feeling that filmmakers were only accessing one piece of what makes her such a compelling screen presence, or as a cypher to their own less-compelling worlds.
But Rehmeier gets it. He captures both the beauty and unpredictability that Weaving naturally brings to her performances, but he also understands how important it is to ground those qualities in something recognizably human. Caroline is impulsive, reckless, and often destructive, but Weaving never lets her become a caricature.
And Gallner is equally strong opposite her. It’s easy to understand why these two people become inseparable. Their chemistry does a tremendous amount of heavy lifting, especially when the script begins asking the audience to follow them into increasingly dangerous territory.
That’s where Carolina Caroline occasionally loses me. The film requires you to fully buy into the idea that these characters would continuously escalate their criminal behavior out of both necessity and devotion to one another. Rehmeier largely succeeds in making that progression entertaining, but I found myself pushing back on the motivations from time to time. The jumps from petty criminality to becoming genuinely wanted fugitives feels more convenient than organic.
What’s fascinating is that Rehmeier clearly isn’t interested in turning either of these people into straightforward villains. In a story involving robbery, violence, and even murder, he still wants you to feel empathy for them by the end. He wants their downfall to feel tragic rather than deserved.
That’s a difficult balancing act, and more often than not, filmmakers making stories in this vein eventually choose a side. Either the characters become monsters, or the movie bends over backwards to excuse their behavior. Carolina Caroline spends most of its runtime trying to occupy both spaces simultaneously.
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I don’t think it completely pulls it off. And yet, by the final act, I found myself buying into it anyway. Part of that is because Weaving and Gallner are simply that good. Part of it is because Rehmeier remains exceptionally talented at capturing small-town America and the fleeting feeling of summer. There’s a lived-in quality to his films that makes even familiar stories feel personal.
Carolina Caroline is a more conventional film than Snack Shack and, in my opinion, a slightly less successful one. But it’s still further proof that Rehmeier understands exactly the kind of movies he wants to make. Frankly, he could make a dozen more of these and I’d show up for every single one.
Score: 6/10
Carolina Caroline (2026)
- Cast: Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, Kyra Sedgwick, Jon Gries
- Director: Adam Rehmeier
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
- Runtime: 107 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: June 5, 2026
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