PHANTOM THREAD
*CUT TO THE CHASE*
NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy
London, 1950's - Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a renowned fashion designer. He makes outfits for counts, socialites, and other members of high society, having established House of Woodcock with his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville). However, Reynolds is always buried in his work, never paying much mind to others. He disregards his girlfriend Johanna (Camilla Rutherford) during breakfast, and even Cyril thinks he should get rid of her since Reynolds clearly doesn't love her.
Reynolds frequently thinks about his and Cyril's deceased mother, whom he considered an inspiration.
While out for breakfast, Reynolds meets a waitress, Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps), and he quickly becomes attracted to her. He invites Alma out for dinner, and she accepts.
After their date, Reynolds brings Alma back to his home so that he can use her as a model for a dress. Cyril shows up and meets Alma. Reynolds comments on Alma's small bust, while Cyril mentions that Reynolds likes her body type since he likes a little belly.
Reynolds and Alma continue to date. She frequently witnesses him working and designing for rich and famous clients. During one dinner, a fan of Reynolds' designs comments that she loves his dresses so much that she wishes to be buried in one of them. He later comments that he would dig her up and retrieve the dress.
Soon, Reynolds starts to treat Alma the same way he treats everyone else. She makes noises at breakfast that disturb him, even if she is simply buttering her toast or pouring her tea. Reynolds scolds Alma for making noise since he feels it distracts him from his work.
Reynolds is visited by a socialite named Barbara Rose (Harriet Sansom Harris), who is set to marry a wealthy Dominican man. As Reynolds makes Barbara's dress, she invites him to the wedding, but he declines. Barbara wears the dress to a party that both Reynolds and Alma attend, but it suffocates her and she faints. As she is carried away to her room, Alma convinces Reynolds that Barbara shouldn't be wearing the dress if she can't handle it. The two barge into her room as she sleeps, and Alma takes the dress off Barbara, and they leave with it. Reynolds then kisses Alma.
Alma wants to do something special for Reynolds, so she puts on one of his dresses and cooks him dinner. He isn't pleased with it since Alma cooked asparagus using butter, and he doesn't like food with butter. They get into an argument where she questions why he acts the way he does, putting on a tough exterior when he isn't that way.
Alma picks a poison mushroom from the woods and puts a little bit into Reynolds' food. As Reynolds is tending to his employees with a new dress, he becomes ill and faints over the dress, ruining it. Reynolds is bedridden while the workers start to fix the dress. Cyril calls for Dr. Robert Hardy (Brian Gleeson) to examine Reynolds, but he and Alma tell him to fuck off.
Reynolds has a fever dream in which he hallucinates that his mother is standing in the room, and he talks to her as if she were there.
After Alma nurses Reynolds back to health, he expresses his love for Alma and proposes to her. They are quickly married, but their relationship returns to being unpleasant. On New Year's Eve, Alma wants to go dancing, but Reynolds prefers to stay in and work. Alma goes out anyway, but Reynolds finds her at the party she's attending, and he drags her away.
While having a client visit for an outfit, Reynolds tells Cyril that Alma has disrupted everything in his household and work, and he blames her for putting a wedge between him and Cyril. Alma walks in after overhearing him before he snaps at her.
Alma cooks up an omelette with more of the poison mushroom, deliberately doing everything that annoys Reynolds (making noises with every movement and using a lot of butter in cooking). As he slowly and suspiciously consumes the omelette, Alma tells him that he will not die, but he will be ill again and will need her to help him again. Reynolds relishes the idea and he kisses Alma.
A while later, Alma is seen walking with a stroller, indicating that she and Reynolds have had a child.
The last shot is of Reynolds once again using Alma to model a dress for him.
