Every Paul Thomas Anderson Movie, Ranked
9
Inherent Vice (2014)Adapted from Thomas Pynchonâs 2009 novel of the same name, Inherent Vice takes place in sprawling Los Angeles circa 1970, when the waves of the hippie movement were just about to roll back. Joaquin Phoenix (reuniting with PTA in their second collaboration) stars as an always-stoned private investigator who takes on three different cases that all share a common thread: the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend (Katherine Waterston). Running amok in this seedy retro L.A. are the likes of Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Martin Short, the late Michael Kenneth Williams, and Hong Chau (in her feature-film debut, as a hypersexual masseuse), all of whom populate Inherent Vice to make its streets feel like an alien planet. Even for Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice is one of his most opaque movies, a film in which the coherence of a story matters less than immersion in its hazy world. Which is why it ranks at the bottom for us; you either vibe with it or you donât. But as Phoenix prowls a sun-kissed underworld of sex, drugs, and crime, itâs hard not to want this two-and-a-half-hour trip to last a few minutes longer. Iâm still thinking (and laughing) about the part where Jena Malone shows Phoenix a Polaroid of her fucked-up baby.
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8
Hard Eight (1996)Of course, itâs incredibly difficult to create a masterpiece in your first filmâeven if youâre Paul Thomas Anderson. Hard Eightâs tale of casino crimes and lonely gamblers introduced the world to a visionary new director, but itâs clear that Anderson had room to grow when you stack the film against his full oeuvre. All those Las Vegas motel interiors donât make for a particularly beautiful movie. There also isnât much PTA-esque fun to have in a story about a gambling pro (Philip Baker Hall) who takes in a homeless man (John C. Reilly) and corrupts his soul. Still, Hard Eight does feature some amazing montages throughout Vegas, featuring whizzing slot machines and rapturous cheers at the craps table. Plus, not many directors can say that the supporting cast for their debut film included Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
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7
Licorice Pizza (2021)Itâs a testament to Paul Thomas Andersonâs talents that one of his three Best Pictureânominated films lands in the bottom half of this list. Licorice Pizza sees the auteur doing what he does best: making feels-like-youâre-there period pieces (Los Angeles in the â70s, a familiar sight), using megastars in unexpected bit parts (Bradley Cooper as the hairstylist Jon Peters), and making the most of fresh talent (Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, son of the legendary PTA collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman.) Following 15-year-old aspiring actor Gary Valentineâwho pines after cool girl Alana Kane, who is 25âAnderson once again visits â70s-era Hollywood. But this time, an oft-unrequited crush is its mushy core. The result is the director at his most nostalgic, which is a welcome sightâeven if it results in Licorice Pizza pulling some of the gut punches that characterized his earlier work.
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6
Phantom Thread (2017)Andersonâs most tender film yet, Phantom Thread is an intimate story about the relationship between fictional fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and a waitress (Vicky Krieps), whom he whisks away and turns into one of his models. Naturally, she falls in love with his geniusâeven if Woodcock is a bit of a stuck-up and pretentious worrywart who has an unhealthy obsession with his work. That is, until she concocts an unbelievable plan to slow him down. (Iâll let you find out what happens for yourself.) If it werenât for an upcoming performance in his sonâs debut film, Anemone, Phantom Thread would have marked the final film before Day-Lewisâs âretirementâ from acting. If I had the chance to choose what movie to end my legendary career on, I couldnât think more beautiful entry than Phantom Thread.
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5
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)If Punch-Drunk Loveâwith its delightfully bizarre, nearly surrealist plottingâdidnât quite fit into a neat little box for you on first watch, consider something Anderson himself said about the film. Famously, the director once described Punch-Drunk Love as âan art-house Adam Sandler film.â Makes sense, right? The film tracks Adam Sandlerâs woeful Barry Egan, who has all kinds of Sandlerian ticks and tendenciesâthe bathroom freakout has a âBobby Boucher when heâs angryâ energy to itâbut Anderson masterfully makes you just uncomfortable enough to withhold a laugh. Deftly toying with Sandlerâs warm and fuzzy screen persona, Egan is flipped into a tragic figure: a loner tormented by his sisters (and, later, a phone-sex scam) who is clearly a victim of his upbringing. So itâs all the sweeter when Anderson gives the man the happy ending he deserves.
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4
Magnolia (1999)Magnolia is a colossal three hours and fifteen minutes long, and yet you hardly feel it. Even with subject matter as heavy as adultery, grief for a dying parent, and pimping out intelligent children on competitive game shows, Magnoliaâs sprawling plots feel as if Anderson wrote stories for a whole goddamn city. The film follows several interlocking characters in Los Angeles who all experience an insane life-changing event. (I wonât spoil it here, if you somehow havenât seen the film, but it would take you over a million guesses to get it right.) Magnolia mainly follows a TV executive and a game-show host, who are both dying of cancer, as they attempt to seek forgiveness for the terrible things theyâve done to their families. Featuring an ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Felicity Huffman, and Jason Robards, Magnolia may very well be Andersonâs most ambitious workâand perhaps his most influential. Look no further than the movie of the moment, Zach Creggerâs Weapons.
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3
The Master (2012)Come for the magnetic and dearly missed Philip Seymour Hoffman; stay for its chilling portrayal of cults and how they weaponize the anger of aimless men. In the first collaboration between Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix, The Master follows a traumatized U.S. soldier who, in a malaise after World War II, falls into the orbit of a charismatic cult leader (Hoffman). Anderson reportedly cooked up the movie in his head for 12 years, inspired after learning that postwar periods are when new-age spiritual movements tend to find their following. While its allusions to Scientology bear too strong a resemblance to be mere coincidence, the real appeal of The Master is its all-time performances by Phoenix and Hoffman at the peak of their powers. Amy Adams, in an Oscar-nominated performance, costars as Hoffmanâs wife, her wholesome maternal image masking her own manipulative intent, Ă la Lady Macbeth.
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2
Boogie Nights (1997)There is so damn much to love about Boogie Nightsâso much, in fact, that you could argue that the film deserves the top spot on this list. (At a certain point, nothingânot even the legendary Dirk Digglerâcan top There Will Be Blood.) Inspired by the too-batshit-to-be-true life of pornographic actor John Holmes, PTA delivered what is by far his funniest film; you can see the director’s mainstays, like John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman, having an absolute blast. If it wasnât for the cheery (and, uh, revealing) ending, though, weâd say it wouldâve gone down as his most depressing effort. We see a young man break ties with his family forever, join a family-bonded pornographic-film operation, develop a coke addiction, and wind up as an accomplice to murder. Only PTA could tell a deeply resonant story of unrealized potential and a son scorned by a mother in a story like this. The cultural impact of Boogie Nights is immeasurable, and a rewatch in 2025 is just as kineticâand cautionaryâas it was in 1997. Our only complaint? Itâs that the disco scene didnât go on for a full five minutes.
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1
There Will Be Blood (2007)Some movies capture the pursuit of the American dream, in all its nightmarish horror. Paul Thomas Andersonâs acclaimed 2007 epic, There Will Be Blood, loosely adapts Upton Sinclairâs 1927 novel Oil! to chronicle the ruthless quest for wealth by silver-prospector-turned-oil-baron Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis in an Oscar-winning performance) in early-20th-century New Mexico. Paul Dano costars as twin brothers Eli and Paul Sunday, whose family landâwhich runneth over with oilâbecomes ground zero for the undoing of Day-Lewisâs tragic antihero. From its silent prologue to its emotionally explosive finale, There Will Be Blood is as expansive as its desert landscapes and viscous in themes of ambition and the corruptive power of wealth. It is often considered one of the greatest films of the 21st century and admired by such luminaries as Denis Villeneuve, Antoine Fuqua, and Robert Eggers. There Will Be Blood is a true modern masterpiece. Youâll never think of milkshakes the same way again.
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