Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1987 · 43 min · Director: Todd Haynes
Show plot summary (may contain spoilers)
Karen and Richard Carpenter are young musicians living with their parents in Downey, California. Richard shows great promise as a songwriter and Karen, who plays drums, begins to sing vocals, thrusting the duo into stardom. They become wildly successful, Karen's striking voice and Richard's soft melodies capturing the essence of the nation's yearning for calm after the turbulent Sixties. But Karen strives for perfection and becomes increasingly fearful of her weight, despite being a slender woman. Eventually she is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, a mental disease relating to stress, lack of control, and low self-esteem. A fight for Karen's life ensues.
Emotional fingerprint
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987) — Movie. Top emotional signals: Sadness 35%, Empathy 25%, Melancholy 20%. Source: AI estimate. Shares describe emotional signal, not percentages of people. Your experience may differ. How we measure
- Sadness35%
- Empathy25%
- Melancholy20%
- Nostalgia10%
- Anxiety10%
AI estimate · no viewer votes yet
How we measure
AI estimate
Share of emotional signal, not the percentage of people or a probability of enjoyment.
Each viewer contributes one response, split equally across their selected emotions. When available, an automated estimate supplies a prior that is blended with those responses. Counts include distinct viewers, not automated estimates or archived anonymous votes. Fewer than 3 viewers is an early estimate; more responses do not guarantee certainty.
Why it feels this way
The strongest emotional signals are Sadness, Empathy, Melancholy. Genres: Drama, Biography, Short. AI estimate.
Is it worth watching?
Consider this title if you are looking for Sadness, Empathy and Melancholy. Its IMDb rating of 7.7/10 suggests a generally positive audience reception. For these leading emotions, its Feel Score is 73/100.
How did it make you feel?
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Pick up to three · 0/3
Emotional journey
- Empathy
- Sadness
- Tension
Not enough subtitle evidence
No dominant emotion
Dominant emotion: Sadness
Dominant emotion: Hope
Dominant emotion: Empathy
Dominant emotion: Tension
Dominant emotion
| % | Approximate minute | Dominant emotion | Overall intensity | Empathy | Sadness | Tension |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 % | ≈ 1′ | Sadness | 70 % | 52 % | 65 % | 52 % |
| 7.5 % | ≈ 3′ | Sadness | 55 % | 35 % | 39 % | 30 % |
| 12.5 % | ≈ 5′ | Hope | 53 % | 23 % | 14 % | 14 % |
| 17.5 % | ≈ 8′ | Hope | 56 % | 25 % | 11 % | 15 % |
| 22.5 % | ≈ 10′ | Empathy | 56 % | 40 % | 25 % | 34 % |
| 27.5 % | ≈ 12′ | Sadness | 60 % | 53 % | 41 % | 48 % |
| 32.5 % | ≈ 14′ | Empathy | 58 % | 51 % | 40 % | 44 % |
| 37.5 % | ≈ 16′ | Empathy | 46 % | 43 % | 26 % | 33 % |
| 42.5 % | ≈ 18′ | Empathy | 44 % | 41 % | 24 % | 29 % |
| 47.5 % | ≈ 20′ | Empathy | 49 % | 44 % | 27 % | 40 % |
| 52.5 % | ≈ 23′ | Tension | 50 % | 40 % | 34 % | 36 % |
| 57.5 % | ≈ 25′ | Sadness | 59 % | 48 % | 50 % | 31 % |
| 62.5 % | ≈ 27′ | Empathy | 68 % | 60 % | 51 % | 48 % |
| 67.5 % | ≈ 29′ | Empathy | 69 % | 60 % | 39 % | 61 % |
| 72.5 % | ≈ 31′ | Tension | 70 % | 56 % | 38 % | 66 % |
| 77.5 % | ≈ 33′ | Tension | 70 % | 60 % | 45 % | 64 % |
| 82.5 % | ≈ 35′ | Empathy | 74 % | 70 % | 50 % | 58 % |
| 87.5 % | ≈ 38′ | Hope | 73 % | 69 % | 41 % | 45 % |
| 92.5 % | ≈ 40′ | Hope | 57 % | 51 % | 30 % | 25 % |
| 97.5 % | ≈ 42′ | Sadness | 43 % | 35 % | 27 % | 12 % |
Cinderella
Rags to riches: The emotional tone rises from negative to positive.
Riches to rags: The emotional tone falls from positive to negative.
Man in a hole: The tone falls, then recovers.
Icarus: The tone rises, then falls.
Cinderella: The tone rises, falls, then rises again.
Oedipus: The tone falls, rises, then falls again.
AI reading of the film’s English subtitles (dialogue and sound cues) — not viewer votes. How we measure ↗
Kadri — your film companion
AIAsk anything about Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. From the film’s own dialogue and FeelDB data, at your spoiler level.
Afterward Reveal viewer responses · may contain spoilers
Viewer responses about feelings after the title ended, separate from feelings while watching. No AI estimates.
0 responses so far
Feeling details appear after at least 3 viewers respond, to protect privacy.
Cast
Richard (voice)
Dionne Warwick (voice)
Narrator (voice)
Narrator (voice)
Cherry Boone
Announcer
Self-Singer
Michelle Hoyt, Musician
(voice)
Details
- Directed by
- Todd Haynes
- Written by
- Todd Haynes, Cynthia Schneider
- Type
- Movies
- Released
- 1987
- Runtime
- 43 min
- Country
- United States
- Ratings
- Feels mostly
- Sadness
- Data updated
Feels similar
More like this →Emotion overlap shows mood similarity, not a prediction of enjoyment.
