In 1950s London, renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes ever present in his life as his muse and lover.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Reynolds Woodcock
Vicky Krieps
Alma Elson
Lesley Manville
Cyril Woodcock
Camilla Rutherford
Johanna
Gina McKee
Countess Henrietta Harding
Brian Gleeson
Dr. Robert Hardy
Harriet Sansom Harris
Barbara Rose
Lujza Richter
Princess Mona Braganza
Julia Davis
Lady Baltimore
Julie Vollono
London Housekeeper
Sue Clark
Biddy
Joan Brown
Nana
Harriet Leitch
Pippa
Dinah Nicholson
Elsa
Julie Duck
Irma
Maryanne Frost
Winn
Elli Banks
Elli
Amy Cunningham
Mabel
Amber Brabant
Amber
Geneva Corlett
Geneva
Juliet Glaves
Florist
Philip Franks
Peter Martin
Tony Hansford
Petrol Station Owner
Steven F. Thompson
Maitre'D
George Glasgow
Nigel Cheddar-Goode
Niki Angus-Campbell
Young Fan
Georgia Kemball
Young Fan's Friend
Nick Ashley
Charles Gayford
Ingrid Sophie Schram
House Model
Ellie Blackwell
House Model
Zarene Dallas
House Model
Pauline Moriarty
Minetta
Eric Sigmundsson
Cal Rose
Phyllis MacMahon
Tippy
Richard Graham
George Riley, News of the World
Silas Carson
Rubio Gurrerro
Martin Dew
John Evans, Daily Mail
James Thomson
Reporter
Tim Ahern
Barbara's Lawyer
Leopoldine Hugo
Princess Mona's Mother
Delia Remy
Bridesmaid
Alice Grenier
Bridesmaid
Emma Clandon
Reynolds' Mother
Ian Harrod
Registrar
Sarah Lamesch
Steff
Nicholas Mander
Lord Baltimore
Jordon Stevens
Lady Baltimore's Daughter
Michael Stevenson
MC, New Year's Eve Party
Jane Perry
Mrs. Vaughan
Charlotte Melen
Young Fashionable Woman
Dave Simon
Chelsea Arts Club New Years Eve Party Guest (uncredited)
David Charles-Cully
Chelsea Arts Club New Years Eve Party Guest (uncredited)
Louis Hannan
Chelsea Arts Club New Years Eve Party Guest (uncredited)
Evie Wray
Wedding Guest / Dancer (uncredited)
Jonathan Wayre
Pathe News Cameraman (uncredited)
Cécile van Dijk
Cécile (uncredited)
Jack Tyson
New Year's Eve Party Guest (uncredited)
Joshua Tomkins
New Year's carnival Float Team Cowboy (uncredited)
Grant Crookes
New Years Eve Party Goer (uncredited)
Director, Writer
Paul Thomas Anderson
Script Consultant
Daniel Day-Lewis
February 14, 2018
Should you decide to visit your local cinema to take in a showing of Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest offbeat character study, you might want to make a bit more effort with your wardrobe than you're accustomed to for such outings. After spending 130 minutes totally immersed in the world of 1950s high fashion, I felt like an utter rube walking out of the cinema in my jeans and hoody combo.
Phantom Thread is as immersive as cinema gets. From its opening sequence, which takes us inside the House of Woodcock, a London fashion house run in quietly tyrannical fashion by renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day Lewis), Anderson's film dismisses any thoughts we might have of our own world of 2018. As we witness Reynolds go about his daily grooming routine it becomes clear we're watching a movie about a perfectionist, one made by a perfectionist, and starring a perfectionist in what is reputedly his final acting role.
Set in his ways like a tree set in concrete, Reynolds knows what he likes, and he likes what he knows. As such, his relationships with the many admiring members of the opposite sex (the film is set at a time when no man was more attractive than one who made things; and if those things happened to make women feel beautiful, like Reynolds' gowns, all the better) rarely get past the following morning's breakfast, where idle chit chat and toast buttering irritate him to a laughably over the top degree.
It's during breakfast away from home, in a small country café, that Reynolds meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a pretty Eastern European waitress who is won over by his flirtatious charm and accepts his invitation for a dinner date. The relationship blooms quickly and Reynolds invites her into his home, teaching her the ways of his trade.
It doesn't take long for Alma's ways to begin annoying the fiercely independent and somewhat narcissistic Reynolds, and her presence begins to disrupt his work - she's become an anti-muse! Reynolds' assumption that she will follow the other women in his past and leave quietly once exposed to his spoilt brat boorishness couldn't be more wrong however. Alma is determined to make the relationship work, even if she has to take extreme measures.
Read the rest of Eric Hillis's review at http://www.themoviewaffler.com/2018/01/new-release-review-phantom-thread.html