There is no debate: 'Phantom Thread' deserves to win Best Picture

There is a scene early on in "Phantom Thread" that perfectly sums up what it’s like to watch a Paul Thomas Anderson film. In it, Alma (Vicky Krieps), a foreign woman of indeterminate European origin working at an English countryside restaurant during the post-World War II period, agrees to move to London with Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) after he, a brilliant but burned out artist whose medium of choice is dressmaking, asks her to be his muse and companion after spending the better part of the weekend at her side.

“Whatever you do, do it carefully,” she cautions moments after deciding that giving herself fully to this stranger is well worth the leap of faith despite the uncertainty. Whether Reynolds Woodcock heeds that plea is up for debate. Anderson, however, has always been careful – meticulous, even – and has continually rewarded those who’ve taken a chance on him with fantastic film after fantastic film.

"Phantom Thread" is perhaps his best work yet, which is saying something considering his last three films are what many consider to be the best movie of the last 25 years ("There Will Be Blood"), an adaptation of what was long thought to be an unfilmable novel by one of America’s most respected and densest writers that ended up surpassing the source material ("Inherent Vice"), and a thinly veiled movie about the founding of Scientology that also happened to be one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s finest performances before his untimely death ("The Master").

On the surface, the movie is a period piece about the trials and tribulations of a May/December relationship. But really, "Phantom Thread" is a lot more than that, and it’s different things for different people. It is at once a meditation of art, a critique of toxic masculinity, a macabre and twisted romance, and a quasi-autobiographical love letter to comedian and actress Maya Rudolph, Anderson’s longtime partner. It’s a master class in acting – Daniel Day-Lewis is leaving the game on a high note if this truly is his final acting performance, and Krieps made it clear that she’s a talent to watch after going toe-to-toe with Day-Lewis.

It’s also an aesthete’s fantasy – Mark Bridges justly earned a nomination and a likely win for the “Best Costume Design” Oscar, whose outfits just pop under PTA’s camera (side note: this is the first time he’s been the cinematographer for one of his movies, which is akin to when Michael Jordan added the fadeaway to his repertoire – it makes him all the more devastating and puts him into a league of his own). Oh, and did I mention it’s also the best foodie film in a good long while? Simply put, "Phantom Thread" is a timeless piece of art, one where a new meaning or layer unveils itself with each subsequent viewing. The film is bigger than the sum of its parts, which is impressive when you consider just how well crafted those parts are. It’s not only the best picture of the year, it’ll be the best picture for a long time, at least until Paul Thomas Anderson makes another one.

Of course, it’s very likely that "Phantom Thread" probably won’t win “Best Picture.” Oscar voters have historically been bad at recognizing PTA’s genius – this is only the second time one of his films has gotten a “Best Picture” nod, the other being "There Will Be Blood," which lost to the slightly inferior "No Country For Old Men." There’s also the fact that this year’s winner will be a film that makes some form of social commentary – "Get Out," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," "Lady Bird"  – or worse, the very mediocre "The Shape of Water." It seems unfair that Anderson has gone this long without winning an Oscar, but at the very least he can take solace that his idol, Stanley Kubrick, the greatest filmmaker of all time, never won one either.