No one in the film is authentic. Daniel plays the "family man." Eli plays the "man of God." The landowners play at being independent. Anderson shoots business negotiations like theatrical duels. The final scene—Daniel alone, refusing to even perform sanity—is the only moment of truth.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Daniel Plainview is widely regarded as one of the greatest acting feats in cinema history. Drawing inspiration from John Huston and the idiosyncrasies of silent film stars, Day-Lewis constructs a character who is charming yet repulsive, fragile yet indestructible. His voice—a high, reedy, transatlantic accent—is a weapon he uses to disarm his victims. He plays Plainview not as a villain who revels in his wickedness, but as a tired, misanthropic man who honestly admits, "I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed."
There Will Be Blood is not merely a film about the oil boom of early 20th-century California; it is a searing, mythic exploration of the roots of American power. Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson (loosely adapted from Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil! ), the film dissects the twin, intertwined pillars of the American identity: aggressive, unbridled capitalism (embodied by Daniel Plainview) and performative, morally compromised religion (embodied by Eli Sunday). The film argues that these forces are not opposed but symbiotic, born from the same well of greed, performance, and a hunger for dominance. Through its austere visual language, avant-garde score, and a career-defining performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, the film stands as a 21st-century cinematic landmark—a bleak, brilliant treatise on the corruption inherent in the pursuit of a "primitive" American dream. There Will Be Blood 2007
It is impossible to discuss There Will Be Blood without acknowledging the revolutionary score by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood. At the time, the score was controversial; the Academy deemed it ineligible for an Oscar because it contained pieces of pre-existing concert work Greenwood had composed. However, time has vindicated the score as essential to the film's identity.
Furthermore, the film is a brutal study of masculinity. Plainview rejects familial love. He distances H.W. after the boy goes deaf, eventually shipping him off to a school. He murders a man who pretends to be his brother. The film argues that the engine of American progress—ruthless, competitive, individualistic—is fundamentally incompatible with love, mercy, or sanity. No one in the film is authentic
Released in 2007, There Will Be Blood is a sprawling American epic directed by Paul Thomas Anderson that explores the dark intersection of capitalism, religion, and the human spirit. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil! , the film follows the ruthless rise of Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oil tycoon, during the Southern California oil boom. A Masterclass in Acting
The dry heat of Little Boston didn’t just bake the earth; it seemed to bake the soul of Daniel Plainview. He stood at the edge of a fresh derrick, the smell of salt and crude thick in the air, watching the silhouette of his son, H.W., moving toward the horizon. The final scene—Daniel alone, refusing to even perform
Upton Sinclair’s Oil! is a didactic, socialist critique of the Teapot Dome scandal and the exploitation of labor. Anderson strips away the political proselytizing, retains the ruthless father-son dynamic, and reframes the narrative as a character study. He replaces Sinclair’s focus on systemic reform with a focus on individual pathology.
While Anderson’s direction is impeccable, the film lives and dies on the shoulders of its cast, specifically the titanic clash between Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano.
Compared to CGI-heavy blockbusters of 2007 (like Transformers ), feels like an artifact from a different planet. Yet, it has aged more gracefully than almost any film of its era.