Phantom Thread (2017)
2017
R
130 Minutes
In the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debut...
User Review
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WHAT I LIKED: There's only one word that really sums up Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Phantom Thread,' and that word is mesmerising, as his latest film will truly immerse you and captivate you to an extent that very few manage. Yes largely thanks to the focus and attention given to the details and Daniel Day-Lewis' typically magnetic performance, from the opening to the closing frames here you'll be well and truly hooked. What's especially impressive though is that this is all despite a deliberately-built distaste for the world and most of its characters as this is a film about vanity, control and human character and that could have easily left everything very cold. But it's the way that that focused and intense direction extends to every inch of the filmmaking here that means that the final experience is far from unengaging at all as Paul Thomas Anderson brings telescopically acute focus to each scene whilst planting visual messages and capturing incredible physical performances to make for something that's almost cryptically captivating. In the end this makes for a very unusual film that sweeps you up brilliantly into something that shouldn't work as well as it does, and brings intense attention to the filmmaking without having you notice it at all.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It is undoubtedly a portrayal of one rather distasteful world...
VERDICT: 'Phantom Thread's detailed focus on its performances and its filmmaking makes for a film that's far more than a sum of its parts and will hold your attention relentlessly for its entire run-time. What a brilliant film, and what a way for Daniel Day-Lewis to (supposedly) finish his incredible career.1 member likes this review.
