PHANTOM THREAD – Review

Vicky Krieps stars as “Alma” and Daniel Day-Lewis stars as “Reynolds Woodcock” in writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s PHANTOM THREAD, a Focus Features release. Photo credit : Laurie Sparham / Focus Features

PHANTOM THREAD is a beautiful, seductive drama set in the rarefied world of high fashion in 1950s Britain. Director Paul Thomas Anderson re-teams with Daniel Day-Lewis, his star from 2007’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD, for a absorbing tale filled with mystery, danger and romance made more fascinating by Daniel Day-Lewis’ electrifying performance.

Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis), a brilliant, successful but eccentric clothing designer who heads his own fashion house in 1955 London, where his clients include royalty, movie stars, heiresses, grand dames and socialites. Woodcock is gifted but he is also exacting, temperamental and ego-eccentric. Gifted and elegant, Reynolds can be charming or eccentric by turns. His sister and business partner Cyril (the wonderful Leslie Manville) takes care of all the practical matters of running the business, so Reynolds can concentrate on the creative. But she also manages the details of his personal life and daily routine, sharing the mansion from which they run their fashion design business. Cyril smooths over the ruffled feathers of clients when Reynolds is too blunt. Hyper-sensitive Reynolds loves routine and carries that over to his personal life, where the handsome confirmed bachelor woos, but never marries, a string of beauties, discarding them as he loses interest. Or, rather, delegating this unpleasant task to his sister.

Into this rigid routine, Reynolds brings a new love interest, Alma (Vicky Krieps), a pretty waitress he meets on holiday. Alma is a working-class immigrant from Eastern Europe with little education but Reynolds is intrigued by her freshness and independence. He sets out to transform her into a fashion model and then lover, as he has done with other women, but Alma proves far different from Reynold’s previous lovers.

One does not have to be particularly interested in fashion to be engrossed by this film. The fashion world of Britain in the 1950s seems an odd choice for a setting for this director but Anderson imbues it with the tension and darkness of psychological thriller, while embracing the inherent romance of the business. Like a theatrical performance, the surface beauty of this world obscures the tense struggle, competition and intrigue behind the scenes.

This is director Paul Thomas Anderson’s second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis. Like THERE WILL BE BLOOD, PHANTOM THREAD features a score by Jonny Greenwood, but unlike that previous film, the music here is lush and romantic, as smooth and pretty as one of Woodcock’s creations in silk and satin.

Visually, PHANTOM THREAD is a banquet, suffused with beautiful dresses and lavish sets, and all gorgeously photographed. Anderson has set this variation on Gothic romance, as it has been described, in an interesting moment in time. Britain is still recovering from the aftermath of World War II but embracing a new peace-time optimism with the lavish coronation of the young Queen Elizabeth II. It seems an odd setting, the fashion world, for an Anderson film yet he finds the dark and even seamy secrets inside to this pretty business. Against this backdrop, Reynolds Woodcock and his sister Alma work tirelessly to maintain the top-tier status of their prosperous business while minimizing changes to the comfortable routine of their personal lives. Alma, and the possibility of real love, unbalance this carefully built status quo, setting up power struggles among them, that impact their personal lives and their business. But the question is whether change is a threat or an essential element to keep the business vital.

This tense contest of wills is placed in an opulent world of gorgeous clothes, stately homes and the rich and famous. Reynolds Woodcock is a fictional character but as Day-Lewis plays him he seems vibrantly alive.. Day-Lewis” Reynolds is intense, fastidious, and gifted in his work. He is charming and elegant but also hypersensitive to little irritations,even the crunch of someone eating toast at breakfast can upset him. Cyril works to minimize these irritations, becoming an enabler of his quirks and crutch of sorts.

Day-Lewis’ performance is remarkable, and much the same can be said for Lesley Manville’s portrayal of his sister. Cyril is both his business partner and personal assistant, the one who takes care of all practical matters so Reynolds can concentrate only on the creative. There are hints of childhood hardships that forged a bond between the siblings, so they form a unit that shuts out the rest of the world. It is this protective shell that Alma sets out to crack. Vicky Krieps is also excellent as Alma, the person who intrudes in this closed world, and unlike others before, brings an unexpected force and will to the table.

Daniel Day-Lewis has said he is retiring from acting, which would be a shame. One might hope this excellent performance might win him yet another an Oscar as a parting gift but it has been a good year for films and for acting performances. Gary Oldman’s remarkable portrayal of Winston Churchill in DARKEST HOUR may shut out several worthy performances, including Day-Lewis’ gripping one in this film.

PHANTOM THREAD is an engrossing and enjoyable drama, a visually beautiful blend of taut drama and seductive romance heightened by the performances of a stellar cast. Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance is a big reason to see the film but it has much to intrigue, filled with layers mystery and unsettling, edgy drama set in the rarefied world.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars