Paul Thomas Anderson: Every Film Ranked

The most ambitious American director working today

From the San Fernando Valley sprawl of Boogie Nights to the bleak plains of There Will Be Blood, PTA has built one of the most distinctive bodies of work in contemporary cinema.

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Created: April 1, 2026

The Collection

Boogie Nights

Boogie Nights

1997
1
Boogie Nights
1997
1
Boogie Nights
IMDb 7.9 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds
Box Office $26,416,349
Why PTA's breakout turns the porn industry into a sprawling surrogate family, Altman-esque ensemble ene…
Magnolia

Magnolia

1999
2
Magnolia
1999
2
Magnolia
IMDb 8.0 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore
Box Office $22,455,976
Why Three hours of interlocking Valley heartbreak that risks everything — raining frogs and all — on th…
There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood

2007
3
There Will Be Blood
2007
3
There Will Be Blood
IMDb 8.2 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds
Box Office $40,222,514
Why PTA's masterpiece, oil and faith clawing at each other through Daniel Plainview — a monument to Ame…
The Master

The Master

2012
4
The Master
2012
4
The Master
IMDb 7.1 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams
Box Office $16,377,274
Why A postwar drifter and a cult leader locked in a dance of need and control — PTA at his most elusive…
Punch-Drunk Love

Punch-Drunk Love

2002
5
Punch-Drunk Love
2002
5
Punch-Drunk Love
IMDb 7.3 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Box Office $17,844,216
Why Anderson distills his maximalist tendencies into a 95-minute romantic fever dream, wielding quick c…
Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice

2014
6
Inherent Vice
2014
6
Inherent Vice
IMDb 6.6 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson
Box Office $8,110,975
Why Inherent Vice represents Anderson's most audacious formal experiment, translating Thomas Pynchon's …
Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread

2017
7
Phantom Thread
2017
7
Phantom Thread
IMDb 7.4 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Vicky Krieps, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville
Box Office $21,198,205
Why A couturier and his muse turn love into a battle of wills, PTA making obsession, control and surren…
Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza

2021
8
Licorice Pizza
2021
8
Licorice Pizza
IMDb 7.1 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Will Angarola, Griff Giacchino, James Kelley
Box Office $17,318,007
Why His warmest film, a shaggy 1973 Valley romance that runs on pure momentum and memory — youth caught…
Hard Eight

Hard Eight

1996
9
Hard Eight
1996
9
Hard Eight
IMDb 7.1 / 10
Director Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow
Box Office $222,559
Why The debut that already had it all — Reno neon, a mentor with secrets, and PTA's gift for making sma…

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