Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread (2017) is set in a dressmaker's house in fifties London and begins as a love story before going somewhere else entirely. Reynolds Woodcock is a celebrated couturier. His life runs like clockwork: nobody speaks at breakfast, the order is not disturbed, and everything is managed by his sister Cyril. In a seaside town he meets a waitress named Alma and brings her into his life. She is first an inspiration, then a model, then a problem. The real subject is this: the only way to live with this man is to make him helpless. Alma discovers that, and her method is mushrooms. We will not describe it, but the strangest thing in the film is that the arrangement is accepted by both of them. Paul Thomas Anderson credited no separate cinematographer; he largely operated the camera himself. Daniel Day-Lewis learned to sew for the part and reproduced a Balenciaga dress from scratch. He announced his retirement from acting after this film. Vicky Krieps got the role from a self tape and did not know she would be opposite Day-Lewis. The imbalance between them is visible on screen and serves the film. Jonny Greenwood's score barely stops, and every scene that sounds romantic is carrying a threat underneath it. It runs 130 minutes. Good for: character drama, PTA, and period film. Less good for: the pace is very slow, the relationship is openly toxic, and the poisoning scenes are uncomfortable.