Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread is a majestic film that resides in the Olympus of cinema. With this movie, PTA earns much more respect from me, and probably from the perspective of almost any cinephile. The film begins with Woodcock, a women's fashion designer, who is disillusioned with his current partner. We see in him a refined and extremely cultured man. The main story starts when he meets a waitress at a restaurant, a waitress he would eventually fall in love with and who would play a significant role in the story, Alma. Gradually, we uncover how obsessive Woodcock is and how this, among many of his quirks, has prevented him from having a stable relationship or getting married. Through Alma, we experience the agony of living with someone like him. It's so agonizing that Alma attempts to poison him, an act that later turns into a toxic act of love between them. We witness Alma's efforts to make him fall in love and how he slowly does, but at the same time, we see how Woodcock's idiosyncrasies transform her into an increasingly toxic partner. In the end, neither of them ends up as they might have expected, but they do become a couple. All of this is portrayed with outstanding performances where there shouldn't be a single complaint. Above all, it's marked by meticulous attention to detail, a level of care we've only seen in directors of the caliber of Kubrick, Tarkovsky, and the greatest in the history of cinema. This is the best film I've seen from PTA to date, the best performance I've seen from Daniel Day Lewis to date, and a work that leaves me with a strange feeling of not giving it 5 stars, but I believe it could achieve that upon a future rewatch. This isn't just recommended; it's a must-see.