Movie tip

Phantom Thread

Paul Thomas Anderson isn't the kind of writer-director to make traditional, average movies. (See: “There Will Be Blood,” “Magnolia,” “Inherent Vice.”) His latest, “Phantom Thread,” at first seems remarkably staid and conventional by PTA standards; it’s a pristine-looking, emotionally restrained piece about a controlling dress designer (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his new muse (Vicky Krieps). Things, though, eventually head in a surprising direction. I’m not sure I understood what Day-Lewis’ character was thinking after a certain point, but the movie became more compelling as it went along.