20 Best Looking Movies Since 2000
16. Carol
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara deliver one of their best performances in Carol, Todd Haynes's swooning and passionate story of two women who embark upon an affair over the course of a cold winter in 1952.
Haynes is no stranger to the period: his 2002 film Far From Heaven received a number of accolades including for the visuals, which recalled the colourful films of the period by filmmakers like Douglas Sirk and Elia Kazan. Carol similarly explores the same visual motifs, contrasting the lavish costumes of the period with shot compositions which pay homage to the films of the 1950s.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Carol's production is that it was shot entirely on Super 16mm film, proving that you don't need exorbitantly expensive 4k digital cameras to make a movie look incredible.