On November 26, I had the opportunity to attend a private evening screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film Phantom Thread at the School of Visual Arts theater in Chelsea. I was sent an invite to the screening nearly a week in advance through email and eventually (no vacant spots were available when I received the invite) managed to reserve myself a spot for the event. I arrived at the theater around 20 minutes early and as is customary with National Board of Review screenings, I had to check in with a NBR representative when I entered the theater. The lobby of the SVA theater was modestly populated with attendees coming in and hanging around and the decor was minimalist (black only color scheme). After checking in, I went straight to the screening room in the hopes of securing a seat with an optimal vantage point (a couple of rows away from the front of the screen and seated in the middle of the row) but found to my disappointment that most of the rows in the center of the room were filled. Looking around the screening room, the only rows that had vacant seats in the middle were the front row and a couple of rows at the back of the room.

The screening room was modest in size, it looked like it could hold a capacity of about 70 occupants. Deciding to sit at the front row, I discovered a peculiar trait of the screening room which was that there was a raised platform inches away from the front row. The space between the platform and the front row was so narrow that whenever someone wanted to move across the row, people seated in the row had to stand up to allow passage. The seats in the room had red polyolefin fabric and narrow armrests. Waiting for the screening to begin, I turned to my phone for reading material to pass the time but unavoidably overheard various conversations from the attendees (filmmakers and film students alike) situated around me; seated behind me were two women having a conversation about post-production challenges that one of the women were experiencing, within my row nearby was a trio of men discussing the films they’ve seen through NBR screenings for end-of-the-year honors consideration.

When the time came for the screening to commence, an NBR representative gave the routine announcement that prefaces all NBR screenings; a statement that specifies the film’s title, run-time, the talent that will be present for the Q&A after the screening, and reiterating that cellphones must be put away and that no photos or recordings of the Q&A (both audio and video) will be permitted. After the screening of the film, we were treated to a Q&A with Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day Lewis, Leslie Manville, and Vicky Krieps. Since I was situated in the front row, the Q&A was conducted a mere 4 feet away from me on the raised platform (which was a surreal experience). As for the film itself, I thought Phantom Thread was fine but when compared to PTA and Lewis’ prior collaboration There Will Be Blood, I liked Blood a lot more than Thread.