Phantom Thread

Renowned fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock creates dresses and garments for members of high society in 1950s London. He is obsessive about his craft, getting into minute details and his entire team of skilled tailors is scared of him. His sister Cyril, looks after the daily operations of his luxury fashion house, but she also manages his personal life, keeping him in check as he immerses himself completely into his work. Reynolds stitches hidden messages into the linings of the dresses he makes to personalize them in ways only he knows. His love life is periodic, in that he fancies a woman for a while before moving on to the next one.

After debuting a new piece for one of his clients, he visits a restaurant in the countryside. A clumsy waitress named Alma catches his fancy and he asks her out on a date. Soon enough she becomes his muse and assistant. Alma initially allows herself to be molded according to Reynolds' rigid ways but within reason. His sister is apprehensive of her but gradually begins to see her as a strong woman. Alma insists on changing his demeanor and they argue on a regular basis. One day Alma decides to surprise Reynolds by cooking him dinner. Cyril insists this is a bad idea, but Alma doesn't agree with her. Reynolds is caught off guard and doesn't react very well to the new experience, but Alma doesn't relent as they face off again. Now spurned, Alma spikes his tea with poisonous mushrooms. Reynolds becomes violently ill to the extent that he hallucinates seeing his dead mother. Alma takes care of him seeing his vulnerability, while feeling guilty. In a state of physical and mental weakness, Reynolds decides to give in and asks her to marry him.

Once married, the couple seem to be happy and content but it isn't long before Reynolds feels claustrophobic and eventually confesses to Cyril that it was a bad idea to marry Alma. She overhears this confession and decides its time to take action again. This time she doesn't hide the process of poisoning his food, doing so in his presence. Reynolds watches her, seemingly unaware as he bites into the omelette. But he soon admits that he knows what she's trying to do. At this point, he accepts their twisted love for each other, as the couple resign to their fate - even though they were harmful to each other, their love was strong enough to see each other through times of sickness and health.

TRIVIA

1. Daniel Day-Lewis has not seen the film in its finished state and was emotionally affected during filming.

2. This is allegedly Daniel Day-Lewis's final film. He announced on June 20, 2017 that he was retiring from acting.