Filmmaker Rachel Lambert made her feature directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023 with Sometimes I Think About Dying, which focused on an antisocial protagonist struggling with having to adjust to a gregarious colleague and new friend. Her latest feature, Carousel, also making its premiere at Sundance, expands to two main characters each going through their own journeys as they start to realize that, even though everything seems to be going well enough, the happiness they’re seeking has proven quite elusive.
Noah (Chris Pine) works as a doctor in a small family practice in Cleveland. His daughter Maya (Abby Ryder Fortson) lives with him half the time, and he does his best to connect with her driven spirit when she’s around and to find ways to occupy his time when he’s alone. When he sees Rebecca (Jenny Slate), who has returned from a busy career working in politics in Washington, DC, the whole history of their past relationship comes back as they reconnect and restart their romance. As they become closer, Noah has to consider his professional future as his partner (Sam Waterston) announces his retirement and Maya pushes herself to succeed in the debate club that just happens to be supervised by none other than Rebecca.
Like with her first film, Lambert has a keen eye for details that enhance these characters and their interactions. Noah’s hair is long and not particularly neat, but when he puts on his white coat, he seems to slip into a different mode. Out and about, he wears a crew neck shirt tucked into pants pulled up high, and, eating at home by himself, the camera lingers on the spit connecting his mouth to his slice of pizza, whose oil who opts to wipe on his shirt after struggling to locate a napkin within arm’s reach. Rebecca’s particularities come more in the way she speaks and how she tries never to be the center of attention unless absolutely necessary. Maya’s tics become more obvious as the weight of her workload comes crashing down on her as she’s still silently processing the impact of her parents’ divorce.
At a Q & A following the film’s Sundance premiere, Pine described the film as featuring very deliberate and tentative dialogue from Lambert’s script. It’s a spot-on analysis, and that very conversational nature does feel true to life but also may irk some audiences eager for snappier exchanges and more plot propulsion. The blocking also feels very considered, especially in an extended sequence that follows a major argument. Audiences might be more comfortable finding a way out of that situation, yet Lambert insists on staying with the characters and highlighting the ways in which they try to turn things around and also stand firm in how they feel without conceding anything that could help them find a resolution.
Pine and Slate are both popular actors known for different fare, with Pine a popular genre and action star and Slate beloved for her comedy and voicing Marcel the Shell. It’s great to see them stretch here and excel, digging into the loneliness that their characters feel and their trepidation to restart a relationship that ended badly but which they’re hopeless to resist. The true standout is Fortson, who goes much deeper than just a typically moody teenager to unearth a trauma that’s manifesting itself as an incredible pressure to succeed scholastically. While much of this film is grounded in humor, all three of these people are going through serious things that they’re not quite able to articulate, and it’s rewarding and challenging to watch them gradually and resistantly go through that process. Lambert offers an insightful character exploration that speaks volumes about relationships, what people don’t say, and what happens when they finally do decide to talk.
Movie Rating: 7/10
Carousel premieres in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
