Review of Phantom Thread

This story might be considered in the realm of one getting in life what they deserve. There came a point in the film where it became completely ludicrous why Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his paramour Alma (Vicky Krieps) should have remained together. That would have been the first instance in which Alma went the poison mushroom route, and I was kind of intrigued that no one figured that out the first time around. But then, when Alma revealed the specifics of her cat and mouse game to Reynolds himself, I was convinced that these two maladjusted individuals were simply using each other for some twisted version of a relationship that in no way could have been considered love. Like a lot of reviewers here, I can appreciate the rich period detail of the picture, and the gowns designed by the House of Woodcock were elegantly exquisite. But the principal characters were not, for as one dimensional an individual as Reynolds was, Alma proved way beyond a reasonable doubt that she was a ball buster supreme in her own way. Both the 'toast scraping' scene and that loooong pour of water meant to get on Reynolds' nerves were classic in execution. There's no denying that both Day-Lewis and Ms. Krieps were brilliant in their portrayals, though in the end, the story itself came across as rather pointless.