Review of Phantom Thread (2017) by Craig S — 11 Jan 2018

Despite AMAZING acting, this is ultimately a trite movie about trite people with trite problems. You may as well go watch "My Dinner with Andre"; but why would you do that again? This is a zero-star/no-star story given life it doesn't deserve by actors who undoubtedly took the roles because of the challenge: making something out of nothing.

And they do. Undoubtedly Phantom Thread will be studied by film students for decades to come who will want to research, how can we be mesmerized by such incredible acting when they're acting out such an utterly boring script? And here's the key: this is precisely a triumph of style over substance. There is no reason to want to know these people, no reason to want to know their story, no reason to resonate with their obsessions or lack of humanity. They are vacuous and unworthy. Yet, the cast triumphs, holding the audience rapt, as minute after minute of utter banality trickles by. Daniel Day-Lewis as the obsessive (to the point of neuroses) Reynolds Woodcock, Vicky Krieps as the equally obsessive Alma Elson, and Lesley Manville as Cyril Woodcock, who sets the bar as "normal" in this dullards insane asylum.

The only moments of humanity in this film come in poisonous moments of clarity, which may be of interest to first-year psychology students, but not to anyone else.

I highly recommend this movie to film students, actors, psychologists, public media announcers, people within the industry, and people with OCD. Otherwise, stay away. It's dull.