The other side of the Carol love story is Rooney Mara's Therese, the young woman enchanted by Carol in her furs. Mara won Best Actress at Cannes this year for her portrayal of Therese, and that should go someway into telling you how strong her character is. Shy and timid, striking as she is, she just isn't comfortable in her own skin, never sure of who she should be or what crowd she belongs to. This is mirrored in how she is shot and how Mara carries herself as the character, who is always obscured by door frames or blurred through windows or caught peering furtively around corners and hallways. Her hands, always drawn to her midriff like a child holding a basket, are always fiddling, tugging at something, as when she nigh on rips thumb holes in her sweater in an early meeting with Carol. Mara's impossible face is the perfect canvas for Therese to project her longing on, all wide-eyed melancholy and lip-twitching nerves. By the close of the film, she has grown, but not much: giving up the one great love of your life isn't as simple as just moving on. She dresses more refined than usual for her final (in the film, anyway) encounter with Carol, but she's not fooling anyone; Carol can have her in an instant, as made obvious by the little-longer-than-usual hand she leaves on Therese's swan-like shoulder before departing. Naturally, Therese runs to get her. None of this is to suggest that she's weak or naïve or wrapped around Carol's delicate fingers. Rather it's to suggest that she's just a young girl in the throes of a forbidden love, a woman who doesn't know that there are more down the line, that your first love is rarely who you end up with. Therese is a great character because we've all been her, and she makes the number one spot on this list as a consequence. Who was your favourite female character of 2015? Any great women we missed? Have your say down in the comments.
