Phantom Thread has been accurately compared to Hitchcock’s psychological dramas—the period feel, the established auteur director, the horror that can sometimes be found at the heart of intimate relationships between men and women. For me, though, it’s more instructive to consider Phantom Thread in dialogue with the films Get Out, The Hunger, and Carol . Like Get Out , Phantom Thread depicts a character who is invited into a world of white wealth and privilege. Alma in Phantom Thread and Chris in Get Out are smart and sensitive enough to realize that something just isn’t right in these mysterious worlds of beautiful homes and feigned politeness. Whereas Chris has a best friend to confide in and ultimately to help save him, however, Alma seems completely alone and without the same urgent desire for escape. Granted, the stakes are different—Chris must struggle against murder, and Alma risks only abandonment. But I was puzzled why Alma chooses...