Anatomy of a Scene: the poisoning of Reynolds Woodcock in ‘Phantom Thread’
The last film of Daniel Day-Lewis’ glorious career as an actor came arrived in 2017 with Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. The legendary actor played Reynolds Woodcock, a renowned English dressmaker with severe mother issues, opposite Vicky Krieps, who portrayed Reynolds’ muse-come-partner, Alma.
The film is a masterclass in interpersonal tension; Reynolds is precise and uptight to the point of being neurotic, which is diametrically opposed to Alma’s more laissez-faire and, ultimately, fun approach to living. They snap at one another throughout the narrative, with Reynolds often taking the upper hand at the expense of Alma’s feelings.
However, eventually, Alma decides that the only way to move forward in their relationship is to poison Reynolds so that he might “settle down” and begin to respect her once more. This approach works, and Reynolds appears to actually enjoy being mothered by Alma despite suffering a terrible sickness. After all, Reynolds goes on record several times throughout the film to state how much he loved his own mother and how he misses her so.
After falling ill to Alma’s poisoning, being nursed back to health by her, and subsequently becoming more tolerable of her ways, Reynolds once again returns to his old disrespectful behaviour. Alma then takes it upon herself to poison her lover once again. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at this second poisoning scene in particular.
Alma has just caught Reynolds being truly disrespectful behind her back to his sister Cyril and knows that he once again has become too much to bear. The crowning scene of the film sees Alma once again in the woods scavenging for mushrooms, accompanied by a particularly intense part of Jonny Greenwood’s excellent score. Alma knows that in order to assert her dominance over Reynolds, she must mother him, but the only way Reynolds will let her close enough is if he is gravely ill.
We find Alma in the kitchen of Reynolds’ countryside house, surrounded by all the objects any former hotel waitress could dream of. This time, compared to the first unsuspected poisoning of Reynolds, we find Reynolds looking upon Alma cooking his dinner with a knowing and disturbed look on his face. Alma cuts an extraordinarily large toxic mushroom up into small pieces as it glows on the chopping board with impurity.
Reynolds looks on, a slow zoom as he sighs in disbelief, perhaps having suddenly caught wind of what happened the first time he fell ill and equally understanding that this may indeed be just what he needs. Alma catches Reynolds’ stare as she washes her hands, not only of the toxic mushroom but also of the very act itself, perhaps. Greenwood’s strings hit as sharply as Alma’s knife and her intentions for her husband.
She brings over the mushrooms and drops them into a searing hot pan with plenty of butter, knowing full well by this point that Reynolds detests butter. He looks up from his work once again, Alma’s intention becoming all the more clear now, and she smiles back falsely. Alma adds eggs to the pan, perhaps a symbol indicating that she wants to bring life back to her husband and their relationship rather than end it completely. Greenwood switches to piano, the eggs sizzle with intensity, and Reynolds draws intensely precise lines with his fountain pen in heavy scratches. He fiddles with his mouth as Alma adds chives to the omelette and brings it to the table, serving her husband what could well be his last meal.
However, even though he seemingly knows that the meal contains poisonous mushrooms, Reynolds doesn’t let on. He drops his book, his glasses, and his pen in a manner that is utterly opposed to his usual precise mannerisms and sits at the table. He refuses a drink after Alma offers wine, or a martini, perhaps to indicate his knowledge of Alma’s intentions toward him – the first dialogue in the scene. This is no time for fine alcohol, after all. Alma likely knows, though, that consuming such high quantities of toxic mushrooms without water may have a more-than-intended effect, so she insists on a glass for Reynolds, although she indeed pours it in a way guaranteed to grate on his nerves. Once again, Alma has established the power in the relationship, although Reynolds has not quite completely relinquished it just yet.
When Alma is quite done pouring, the two share a lengthy stare, as though Reynolds asks Alma without words if she really does want him to eat this poisonous meal sat before them. Reynolds picks the plate up as though to delay his eating and places it back down on the table. Every other moment, Reynolds looks at Alma to double-check she won’t reveal all, evidently knowing he’s now in for a serious illness ahead. Reynolds puts knife and fork to plate, looks, cuts, looks again, holds the fork to his mouth and pops a slice of the omelette in, not chewing just yet, but waiting.
When Alma says nothing, merely keeping eye contact with her lover for quite some time, Reynolds chews extremely slowly, always keeping eye contact, and, eventually, he swallows. Alma’s lip part and tremble; her husband has finally submitted to her willingly. She then tells him, “I want you flat on your back, helpless, tender, open with only me to help. And then I want you strong again. You’re not going to die. You might wish you were going to die, but you’re not going to.”
She goes on to explain why she has poisoned her dear husband: “You need to settle down a little”. A truly motherly thing to say. A smile appears on both of the couple’s faces. Reynolds drops his fork and says, “Kiss me, my girl, before I’m sick.” They do so to the sound of Greenwood once again coming in hard with the harrowing Phantom Thread theme piece, this time made up of piercing strings and booming drums.
It’s a truly glorious scene in an excellent film, bringing together the entire narrative. Both Alma and Reynolds have essentially learnt that the dressmaker is an utter nightmare mother’s boy who simply must get his own way at all times. But in a sense, Alma truly loves Reynolds and not merely his position as a famed dressmaker. She genuinely knows him and understands that the only way to his heart is to mother him. This scene towards the end is the crucial part of Phantom Thread in the sense that Reynolds finally recognises his true self and his genuine characteristics, but it takes someone as steadfast as Alma to come along and hold up the mirror without pandering to his self-serving neuroticism.
