A British arts critic reviewing forthcoming movie releases has discovered that there is just one new film that he cannot claim is an artistic comment on Brexit and Britain's place in the world.
Peter Connelly of The Observer had effortlessly explained the context of Aardman's 'Early Man' as a prehistoric Brexit parable, or the Churchill epic 'Darkest Hour' as the origin of the 'Britain alone' narrative that resulted in the Leave vote in 2016. He had even managed to pigeon-hole Paddington 2 as the positive case for immigration made against the 'reactionary noise of UKIP and Brexit.'
'But Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day Lewis has just got him defeated', explained his editor. He tried saying the 1950s fashion design story harked back to a golden age of Britishness that UKIP knew never really existed, but he knew in his heart this was a bit of a stretch. Then he tried writing that the story of the Belgian princess having her wedding dress designed in London was the director's comment on the value of European trade and co-operation. 'But Peter knew he still hadn't found the Brexit metaphor and he just broke down in tears and threw his laptop out of the window.'
Apparently the Leavers made a documentary called 'Brexit, the Movie', so we're just going to give him that to review next as part of his on-going therapy. He'll be busy on his DVD player for ages, trying to find if it comes with French subtitles.