Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Phantom Thread': Detailed Synopsis Revealed

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Is there a film obsessive cinephiles are looking forward to more this holiday season than Paul Thomas Anderson‘s upcoming movie “Phantom Thread“? The answer is, quite obviously, no. Despite the mixed reaction his last movie, “Inherent Vice,” received back in October of 2014, Anderson is still viewed as one of the greatest working filmmakers in the world today. “The Phantom Thread” reteams him with the newly retired “There Will Be Blood” star Daniel Day-Lewis. The actor retired earlier this year to reportedly become a fashion designer, the trade his character in “The Phantom Thread” does for a living (who knows if this is actually true). We can expect the usual Johnny Greenwood score, and the surprising decision for PTA to act as his own director of photography in the film.

If there’s one film that’s been kept in utter secrecy this year it is no doubt this movie. We’ve known little about it other than that it’s set in the couture world of 1950s London and focuses on the “life behind the curtain of an uncompromising dressmaker commissioned by royalty and high society.” 

Well, guess what? We finally have some kind of detailed, long-form synopsis and it isn’t vague or cryptic, it’s an actual synopsis! Here it is:

Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. With his latest film, Paul Thomas Anderson paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running. Phantom Thread is Paul Thomas Anderson’s eighth movie, and his second collaboration with Daniel Day-Lewis.

This also sounds like “The Unbearable Lightness of Being“, set in the fashion industry. There are rumors that the film is currently cut at a running time of 195 minutes and that the goal is to trim it down to 165 or so minutes. I recently spoke to someone close to production who said to think of this film as the better, more mature, and artful version of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” to which I politely responded “WTF!?” And it’s a sentiment that’s been echoed in the past too.

The trailer has also been rated, which means that it must be coming soon. Maybe next week? “Phantom Thread” opens on December 25th.