Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the best modern American filmmakers. Since he shook the world with Boogie Nights back in 1997, the director has released banger after banger for nearly three decades.
His films are always critical and award darlings that have positioned him as a major artist, and his newest film, One Battle After Another, looks like it’s shaping up to be another likely Oscar nominee.
But with so many amazing films under his belt, which are the very best?
Watch With Us gets to the bottom of it. We ranked our picks for the seven best PTA films of all time.
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7. ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997)
During the Golden Age of Porn in the 1970s, California teenager Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) runs away from home and finds himself in the porn industry orbit. He adopts the on-screen moniker “Dirk Diggler” and becomes a pornographic celebrity, finding kinship and community with his fellow pornstars and crew members. But Adams’ newfound fame brings excessive, dangerous indulgence that eventually threatens his livelihood.
Boogie Nights is a fast-paced thrill ride with colorful characters and a propulsive narrative that hardly ever lets up. In addition to Wahlberg, the supporting cast features dynamite performances from Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Burt Reynolds. Watching the film, it’s no wonder that Anderson was deemed a wunderkind at the time, having only been 26 when it was released.
6. ‘Magnolia’ (1999)
This cinematic collage depicts the interconnected lives of a group of people living in the San Fernando Valley: a good-natured cop, a former child genius, a current child genius, a game show host, a snake oil salesman, a dying father and his male nurse, a troubled daughter and a hysterical wife. Each character arc is woven into one overarching narrative, as we see these characters struggle with the search for happiness and meaning.
Ambitious and deeply emotional, Magnolia is a filmmaking force to be reckoned with. It is a mosaic of human feeling and human suffering, as characters seek connection, love and catharsis with one another and themselves. The film has been regarded as a masterpiece and features one of the best Tom Cruise performances of his career, which received an Oscar nomination.
5. ‘Inherent Vice’ (2014)
In 1970, affable stoner Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) spends most of his days getting high and hanging out — despite his status as a working private investigator. Until one day, his ex-girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston) goes missing, and in his quest to find her Doc suddenly finds himself down the rabbit hole of a twisting, labyrinthine conspiracy that he can barely keep up with.
Adapted from the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name, Inherent Vice is at once easygoing and totally paranoid; a wild goose chase that hinges on non sequiturs, misdirections, and a seemingly endless parade of weird, wacky characters. Featuring an all-time hilarious performance from Phoenix, Inherent Vice will leave you laughing just as much as it leaves you scratching your head. But the mystery is all part of the fun.
4. ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007)
There Will Be Blood is based loosely on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair, and tells the story of ruthless oil tycoon Daniel Plainview — Daniel Day-Lewis in a powerhouse performance that won him an Academy Award. The story follows the early-20th-century industrialist as he schemes, cheats, and even kills his way to immense wealth. But his dogged pursuit of riches comes up against zealous preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), whose family sits upon land that Plainview wants for himself.
While a drama and character study on the surface, There Will Be Blood is more akin to a slow-burn thriller. Its nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime is like a bubbling cauldron of slowly progressive tension, not truly bursting until the film’s chilling final scene. There Will Be Blood is a dark, philosophical take on the American Dream that will leave you rattled.
3. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Shy, awkward Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) has trouble fitting in. An entrepreneur who sells novelty items, he struggles with isolation and loneliness, bullied by his gaggle of older sisters. He can’t seem to truly connect with anyone, until one day, he meets the lovely Lena Leonard (Emily Watson). While he’s determined to win her heart, he also becomes inadvertently wrapped up with a gang of scammers.
This unconventional love story is Anderson at his most simple yet stunningly profound. With gorgeous cinematography from Robert Elswit, a rapturous score by Jon Brion and colorful video art interludes created by the artist Jeremy Blake, Punch-Drunk Love mixes rom-com with a dash of fantastical realism to create an unforgettable work of heart-warming absurdism. Features a pivotal acting heel-turn by Sandler, who proved that his range far extends beyond his work at Happy Madison Productions.
2. ‘Licorice Pizza’ (2021)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s love letter to growing up in the San Fernando Valley serves as the debut performance from Cooper Hoffman — who just happens to be the son of Anderson’s frequent collaborator, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman stars as precocious teen Gary Valentine, a born salesman who falls in love with the directionless Alana (Alana Haim). Though much older than him, Alana strikes up an unlikely friendship with Gary, as together they navigate their hometown while each coming of age in their own way.
Mosaic and vulnerable, Licorice Pizza combines many of the very best of Anderson’s filmmaking staples: lush visuals, a pitch-perfect soundtrack, complex characters and incredible performances. The film is fresh-faced like its two leads, but it’s clearly the work of a mature director. Navigating complicated themes and questionable character motives, Licorice Pizza provides no easy answers for and about its lead characters. It’s a film that asks its audience to take its hand and go along for a wild ride.
1. ‘The Master’ (2012)
The Master is handily Anderson’s masterpiece — a breathtaking post-war epic that takes a skewer to America and related ideas about war, indoctrination, male vulnerability and the meaning of success. Like There Will Be Blood, it’s the American Dream turned on its head with its guts pulled out, and as ever, Anderson pulls no punches. Led by scintillating performances from co-leads Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, The Master is intricate, vibrant and designed to frustrate, but it is a wholly gratifying artistic experience.
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The film follows Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II veteran adrift and grappling with PTSD, finding it difficult to reintegrate into society. By chance, Freddie comes across the magnetic Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), leader of a new religious movement known as The Cause. Seeking purpose and meaning, Freddie becomes drawn under Dodd’s spell, but the two men prove to be fraught bedfellows.
To be considered “the best,” these films and series can be visually engaging, intellectually stimulating or simply just fun to watch, but the one trait they must have is that they are all, in some way, entertaining. We then check which platform they are streaming on and how you can access them as a subscriber. No algorithm nonsense or paid endorsements here — our recommendations are based purely on our love and interest for the films and shows we love.
