Out of all the Paul Thomas Anderson epics with endings that made me go, “What the fuck was that all about?” (that’s most of them), I found 2017’s dignified-but-dysfunctional fashion show Phantom Thread to be his most baffling. For this period piece, PTA reteamed with his There Will Be Blood star Daniel Day-Lewis, having him play a British designer whose prestigious, perfectionist world is rocked when he falls for a young gal (Vicky Krieps) who goes from muse to significant other to bane of his existence. So is this a refined takedown of toxic masculinity (coincidentally released during peak #MeToo activity)? Or given its 1950s setting, is it a metaphorical treatise on Britain’s postwar reinvention, with Krieps’ liberated lass figuratively dragging Day-Lewis’ stodgy sophisticate into the swinging future? Or is it just a fucked-up rom-dram in which a crazy-ass creative finds true love with someone even crazier? Whatever it is, it’s as visually fetching and immaculate as the dresses that get stitched and modeled. To paraphrase Buddy Hackett, Phantom Thread puts on a vest just to take a leak. Visit belcourt.org for showtimes.
Feb. 10 & 14 at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
