by Will Sorg

The first time I saw Phantom Thread was on an airplane. I had heard good things about it so I spent my flight back from Nashville taking in the movie that changed my life. From that tiny screen in a cramped seat I opened my eyes to the possibilities that film has to offer. This was the first film that I ever truly analyzed deeply. I paid great attention to every detail and took everything in with a feeling of complete fascination. From the beautiful cinematography that swept me off my feet with its vivid visual storytelling. To the unforgettable soundtrack that wove its way through the film and into my heart. Phantom Thread got its hooks in me when I was only a sophomore in highschool and it has never let go since.
Directed by my favorite director of all time, Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread is a story of contradictions, of love that is both deep love and deep resentment. Reynolds Woodcock, played by the genius actor Daniel Day-Lewis, is a British dress maker in post World War Two England. He is an eternal bachelor and has never been able to settle down in his decades of designing and crafting beautiful dresses with his sister Cyril. While taking a break in the country he meets a young waitress named Alma. He is immediately interested in her and invites her to become his muse and a model for his dresses.
Alma is fascinated by Reynolds’ eccentric lifestyle and the way he makes her feel yet from the very beginning it is clear that he is a confirmed bachelor for a reason. Reynolds is a neurotic genius to an almost comical degree. He lives by a regimented and constantly busy schedule that can be thrown off completely by even the slightest interruption. He berates Alma for small things and often flies into passionate monologues over slights that are perceived only by him. Alma, played by Vicky Krieps, slowly transforms from an innocent young woman into an adversary who hopes to change Reynolds’ uncompromising ways. We are given a chance to watch this struggle as the two eventually reach such a level of dramatics and pettiness that it really turns into two horrible people who are made for each other trying to triumph over each other in their own little way.
However, I have to say that there is a kind of perverse beauty in Reynold’s and Alma’s relationship. Humanity is obsessed with imperfect characters and these two characters are so flawed that we can’t help but hope they somehow find a way to make it work. The ugliness of their relationship makes their perfect moments of love together feel even sweeter. I think this also works because as the film goes on, the power dynamic shifts from the far older and successful Reynolds being on top, to a far more nebulous and equal dynamic that offers us room to see that despite their arguments they both truly want to love each other. Phantom Thread is an unconventional love story that will make you never want a relationship again while simultaneously making you feel like relationships are the only things holding the world together.