17 PHANTOM THREAD 1017

ALL DRESSED UP IN LOVE

EXPECTATION Paul Thomas Anderson does fashion? Please don’t be Prêt-à-Porter…

OMG For his eighth high-risk outing, Anderson cut an enigmatic classic of skewed love and toxic obsession from costume-drama cloth, stitched together by needle-sharp leads. Daniel Day-Lewis is precision-pinched perfection as clothes-maker Woodcock, Vicky Krieps a revelation as lover/ muse Alma: between them, the air bristles with battle-ofthe-sexes resonance.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT So good, Day-Lewis retired afterwards. Other artist/muse subversions emerged: compare Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.

“Chic?! Whoever invented that ought to be spanked in public!”

Anderson’s love of Brit cringe-com Nighty Night partinspired Julia Davis’ caustic cameo.