Movie Review: Phantom Thread

Photo credit: IMDb photo gallery {Source}

Phantom Thread is a surprisingly fine film. I'll admit that I wasn't all that thrilled about going to see a film labelled as a "romance / drama," just like films with lots of violence, it's not my favourite genre. I was convinced otherwise to check out this film by the courtier aspect woven into the film's story. Who wouldn't want to see a film filled with works of art created out of fabric?

I'll admit it is a pleasantly surprising story line. Set in the 1950s, this film has an Alfred Hitchcock vibe mixed with dark comedy undertones. It did however seem to be lost on my fellow movie viewers. Parts of the film that brought laughter to my lips were not shared in the theatre.

The costumes were beautiful. Alma, a woman fetishized by Reynolds, a British womanizing fashion designer, is beautifully dressed in stunning garments. I wish I could find a photo of the lace bodiced dress with front pockets that Alma wears in a fashion show scene. The costumes are stunning. But they somehow play second to the story. Reynolds meets his creative match when he tries to use Alma as a human mannequin. Throw in a seemingly creepy relationship that Reynolds has with his dead mother and business partner sister, Cyril, and it becomes a creative battle of wits. Will it be Cyril that manages her brother and muses like she manages the house and business. Or perhaps it's Reynolds, the bullying narcissist, who tries to manage his environment and those he allows into it. Don't count out, Alma, the understated country waitress and latest muse, who comes into the relationship with her own creative genius that should not be underestimated.

It was a fun distraction and a film worth seeing not just for Mark Bridges' costume work, but also for the clever story mimicking the style of post-war era Hitchcock films.

Well, right now I should get back to sewing. I still have a skirt to sew.  

Happy Sewing (or sewing distractions)!