Review of Phantom Thread (2017) by Dawdlingpoet — 20 Nov 2021

I liked how soft spoken and thoughtful the main character, Reynolds, appears to be and the slow piano music played in the background of most scenes. I liked the settings, with some shots of old fashioned English towns. The dialogue felt somewhat poignant at times. While Reynolds seems quite a sensitive person, he isn't entirely likeable but I felt that the emotional performances between Vicky Krieps, who plays his partner, Alma and Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds seemed very believable and so its a relatively engrossing watch. I found myself second guessing what may happen next, in terms of what direction their relationship may take. They come across as both quite vulnerable people in perhaps their own way and indeed both the instrumental music and the incidental music played lightly in the background highlighted this. I think fragility is a key theme in this film, with the link between the relationship and the soft and luxurious nature of the fabrics being the main obvious one. The main thing I liked about this film is its subtlety.

The film certainly depicts a dysfunctional relationship and I suppose it could be said to be rather (for some painfully) slow on plot but I liked the atmosphere and the general feel of it, the tenderness and so it worked for me.