TORONTO INTERNATIONAL 2025 FILM FESTIVAL! Carolina Caroline is a pleasant surprise, filled with heists, car chases, and heart. Directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier and written by Tom Dean, the film will make you laugh, cry, and revel in the chaos of its wild ride. This crime thriller romance hooks viewers with its action-packed crime spree promises, but what keeps the audience hooked is the unexpected. This film is filled with moments that are just as heartwarming as they are heartbreaking, bringing a relatability to the characters that you do not get from every heist movie.
The story opens with Oliver (Kyle Gallner) conning a small town gas station clerk, while employee Caroline (Samara Weaving) oversees the whole thing, both angered and intrigued at how easy scamming can be. Her curiosity draws her to Oliver, and soon, into his lifestyle. The two fall in love with each other, and with the rush of chasing more and more money. They decide to travel across the U.S.A., hoping that along the way Caroline can reconnect with her long-lost mother and steal everything they can. But as their petty crimes level up to bank heists, the stakes rise, and they realize they may not have been as prepared as they thought they were.
“…they decide to travel across the U.S.A., hoping that along the way Caroline can reconnect with her long-lost mother and steal everything they can.”
Gallner plays Oliver with coldness and intensity. He is seemingly detached from any family and has spent years committing petty crimes to get by. This makes his soft spot for Caroline feel even more vulnerable and intriguing. The chemistry between the two leads is realistic and convincing, giving their Bonnie-and-Clyde dynamic a real spark throughout Carolina Caroline.
Weaving plays the role of Caroline with a naïveté that makes her instantly lovable. It’s the classic tale of a sweet, small-town girl who meets a bad boy. However, in this tale, they drive off into the sunset together, robbing banks. Caroline’s relationship with her family is an incredibly heartwarming and heartbreaking aspect of the film. Her Mother (Kyra Sedgwick) left her when she was a baby. Caroline has spent her whole life trying to put the pieces together and get closure about her mother’s absence in her life. The stop in South Carolina, where Caroline seeks the closure she’s long craved, gives the film some of its most emotional and memorable moments. In contrast, her father (Jon Gries) has always been supportive and loving, and their relationship provides some of the film’s most heartwarming scenes. The balance between loss and unconditional love deepens Caroline’s journey, making her relatable, vulnerable, and undeniably bad-a*s.
What works about Carolina Caroline is how it looks and feels. Gas stations, backroads, and motels become the perfect backdrop for Oliver and Caroline’s recklessness. It isn’t shiny or cleaned up, and that makes the story land even more. The car chases and hold-ups have edge, but the movie doesn’t forget to pause for smaller moments between the characters. The music and sound choices add to that uneasy feeling; the film moves with the same restless drive as its leads. By the time it’s done, it’s less about the robberies and more about two people holding on to each other in the middle of it all. It’s the kind of story that makes you root for people even when you know they’re bound to crash. And even in all the mess, there’s a sweetness to the way they find comfort in each other, those heartwarming moments hitting just as hard as the action.
Carolina Caroline screened at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
"…the movie doesn’t forget to pause for smaller moments between the characters."
