Carolina Caroline, directed by Adam Rehmeier, is not exactly original in its concept. A young couple falling in love as they commit crimes across rural America has been done numerous times, most famously in Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands. However, this modern indie take is refreshing and entertaining in its own right.
Caroline (Samara Weaving) is stuck in a rural Texas town stocking shelves and taking care of her elderly father Hank (John Gries). When fast-talking conman Oliver (Kyle Gallner) rolls into town in his classic 1970 Chevy Chevelle Super Sport (I had to look that up) and scams the store owner, Caroline is momentarily outraged but soon falls in with him.
While Caroline at first wants Oliver to teach him how to scam, their crimes quickly escalate to bank robbery. Predictably, people get hurt, and the couple become fugitives.
The film is a bit fuzzy when it comes to the time period, which is certainly no accident. As it shamelessly borrows tropes from 1960s and 1970s lovers-on-the-run movies, it clearly doesn’t want to have a contemporary feel. The prevalence of pay phones and other signals suggest it could be the 90s. However, a slick identity theft scam the couple pulls off on a hapless businessman suggests at least the start of the digital era.
We don’t learn much about Oliver, aside from his being an amoral drifter and small-time criminal. He does give an interesting and semi-credible justification for his way of life, explaining to Caroline how everything in society is basically a scam. His subsequent actions, though, make it clear he’s willing to do whatever it takes to stay ahead of the law.
Caroline is a bit more complicated. Her attraction to Oliver and desire for adventure is only part of her motivation. She’s also set on finding her estranged mother (Kyra Sedgewick in a great role, if a bit grotesque) in South Carolina. When her mother turns out to be an unapologetic lowlife who spends the whole day drinking screwdrivers in a dive bar, Caroline sinks into a kind of nihilism that keeps her on Oliver’s wavelength.
Carolina Caroline is a fun and engaging movie that doesn’t try to be anything more than a new take in an established genre. It’s currently streaming on Netflix.