Phantom Thread

A story made to measure for an incomparable thespian, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's divine, poetically scripted melodrama examines the impact of emotional upheaval on the fragile mind of a finely tuned creative. It unfolds in 1950s London, where Daniel Day-Lewis plays a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious approach to his craft has left him intolerant of the messiness of human beings, and who is accompanied and protected by his sister and business partner Cyril (a terrifying Lesley Manville). Phantom Thread draws out the flaws and vulnerability of the artist as he enters into a relationship with a new muse (Vicky Krieps), and we see the difficulty of such a person maintaining a normal life. As intriguingly ambiguous as Krieps is, this was always going to be Day-Lewis's picture, with the chameleon-like, London-born star (who has so rarely played Englishmen) tackling something closer to home in what has been mooted as the final film of his career. As we watch his alter ego unravel, it all feels rather intimate. If this is to be the actor's swansong, what a fine and fitting departure.