Phantom Thread (2017) Script Review | #87 WGA 101 Greatest Scripts of the 21st Century
Paul Thomas Anderson is in a class of his own, diving into new worlds (here, 1950s fashion culture in London) to spin a fascinating tale of desire, ego, and control. It's electrifying.
Logline: Set in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Pages: 82
If you look it up on Wikipedia, the entry for Phantom Thread describes it as a ‘historical drama,’ but that doesn’t even begin to describe it. Yes, it is a historical drama— in the sense that it’s set in 1950s England, and about a complicated relationship between a famous fashion designer and his muse— but in categorizing it as such, it misses everything that makes a Paul Thomas Anderson script so exciting. It’s bold, erotic, prickly, sad, funny, uncomfortable; sometimes all of it, and more, at the same time. It might be the best script he has written in his career.
It's also perhaps the slimmest screenplay that he’s written, adding up to a mere 83 pages. If one page adds up to a minute of screentime, then Phantom Thread would only run for less than one-and-a-half hours. The actual runtime is 130 minutes, implying 40-50 pages missing. But pages aren’t missing; Paul Thomas Anderson (or PTA, as it’s often stylized), has made it compact and succinct. He’s nailed the emotional beats of the story; the technical bits, especially related to fashion, are left to be improvised or discovered on set. It doesn’t go into detail about the visual style or camera movements that he’s famous for employing except in brief instances. It is stripped down to its bare essence, shedding any weight of excess description and actions, and runs like a well-oiled machine.
PTA doesn’t go into detail about the fashion world and the clients; he indicates what needs to be said in brackets, or provides a general direction for where it needs to go. Here’s an example on pages 19-20:
This is helpful if you want to write a screenplay about a world you aren’t too familiar with, or has a lot of technical jargon that adds verisimilitude but could detract from the emotional story. Simply provide a general indication of what needs to be said, and keep your eye on the story and emotion.
Another reason the screenplay runs so short in pages is because PTA doesn’t elaborate on the sequences in a montage as he might have in previous scripts. Reynolds has an elaborate process of getting dressed that includes brushing his shoes and what not. If PTA went to outline every step, it would take up some space. Instead, this is how he writes it:
The same applies to describing a typical day in their business, and how they start the day:
It’s spare and left open to figure out later, yet distilling into a sentence precisely what we, the reader, needs to know happens.
The plot is equally simple. It charts the tumultuous relationship between Reynolds Woodcock and Alma, and their reactions to each other. The cast is surprisingly sparse, almost like a stage play; the only other character of importance is Reynolds’ sister, Cyril Woodcock. Here’s the main cast:
Reynolds Woodcock – late 50s
Alma – not told
Cyril Woodcock – 60s
Dr Robert Hardy – not told
Even character descriptions are omitted beyond disclosing their age! The other characters are customers and the other staff members but they only pop up in one scene or two, orbiting the two planets that are Reynolds and Alma. Though we aren’t told anything about them, by the end, we feel like we know them. Or at least as much as it’s possible to know a character.
For instance, PTA tells us nothing about Reynolds and Cyril, but their conversation and actions tell us everything we need to know: He’s the talent and brains; she’s the one who makes it possible to earn a living from it. Without Cyril, Reynolds would be nothing; because man of genius though he is, like most men of genius, he’s impossible, demanding, and narcissistic momma’s boy, to whom he was very close.
Who is Paul Thomas Anderson?
Paul Thomas Anderson, born June 26, 1970, (also stylized PTA) is one of the most acclaimed American filmmakers in the last few decades. After making his directorial debut with the 1996 film, Hard Eight, he broke out with his follow up, Boogie Nights (1997). All his subsequent films have been critical successes, including Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Inherent Vice (2015), and Licorice Pizza (2021). Of those made after 2000, three of them (including Phantom Thread) appear on the WGA’s List of 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century— There Will Be Blood (#7) and The Master (#84) .
PTA is a self-taught filmmaker who began writing as a teenager, citing David Mamet, J.D. Salinger, David Rabe, Aimee Mann, and Brian Wilson as influences. He attended film school for only two days, deciding that he could learn more from director audio commentaries and technical books than film school.
The idea for Phantom Thread originated when he started researching Cristóbal Balenciaga, whose monastic life was consumed by his work, prompting PTA to wonder what it would have been like if such a life was disrupted; most of the time, it would be love that did it.
“I had a story that was in search of characters, which is rare for me,” says PTA in an interview. “I needed a man for this story. I needed a woman and another woman. It was good for the story for the man to be very strong-willed, stubborn, set in his ways, slightly fascist, creative, that kind of thing. That’s good because then you’ve got something you need to crack and to figure out how to crack. I think many people would agree, just like they would about the Golden Age of Hollywood, that the peak time for couture was in the early-to-mid 1950s. There were so many beautiful dresses that were made that are still referenced and spoken about and admired. I love the idea on a pure style level being able to have that around your story. That was appealing.”
To this end, Daniel Day-Lewis was involved from the beginning. PTA would write pages and give them to the actor, receive feedback, and incorporate it. It wasn’t just helpful for the story and character; it gave Day-Lewis the time to prepare and learn how to play a dressmaker. He also decided to let the famed British actor play an Englishman for once, which makes Phantom Thread the first script that PTA wrote set outside of America.
PTA didn’t want to depict a conventional love story where the prickly man abandons his ways to appease the woman he has fallen in love with. Instead, it’s a twisted and masochistic love affair between a formidable and demanding person who realizes that his muse is not helpless or will easily capitulate, but exerts her own will and pushes back. Alma is just as formidable a match as Reynolds; they’re perfect for each other, but oh boy, aren’t they a pair!
This might feel uncomfortable, especially in the wake of #MeToo and stories spilling out about abusers and victims. People might call for the cancellation of Reynolds Woodcock, or even cancel Phantom Thread altogether, but that misses the point entirely. Yes, Reynolds is a narcissist, but he’s human, and Alma is not a victim but actively asserts her own agency. Is it messed up? Yes. But show me a relationship that isn’t messed up in its own way, and I will show you a unicorn.
Accordingly, the script evokes Alfred Hitchcock (very strong Vertigo vibes), as well as Daphne du Maurier, whom PTA has acknowledged as an influence. Nothing about Phantom Thread is conventional, but that’s why we are talking about it.
Was Phantom Thread nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar?
Incredibly, PTA did not receive a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards for Phantom Thread, which feels like a travesty until you consider that it would have gone up against Get Out that year, which won the Oscar and topped the WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century, but it still feels like an oversight.
This is an excellent model for any screenwriter wishing to write a screenplay set in a world they aren’t too familiar with; that is to say, basic storytelling is what matters above all. PTA knew little about the fashion world, and yet he’s written a script that is convincing in its authenticity. Sometimes, the convincing is what counts.