Some movies, like some clothes, are functional without being particularly beautiful — but some movies, like writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s luxurious and breathtaking “Phantom Thread,” are the equivalent of high fashion, allowing us to get lost in the beauty and fantasy of their folds.
Fashion is all Anderson’s main character, designer Reynolds Woodcock, wants to create in life. Woodcock, played with precise detail by Daniel Day-Lewis in what the actor has said is his final movie role, is the most sought-after designer in 1950s London, with a clientele that includes European royalty and American glamour icons. Everything in his life, from his pull-up socks to his relationship with his sister and business partner, Cyril (Lesley Manville), is well-ordered — all the better to let him create the perfect couture.