Every Paul Thomas Anderson Movie, Ranked Worst to Best

Paul Thomas Anderson has been one of the most prolific writer-directors in Hollywood ever since his debut in the 1990s. Most of his films are a psychological exploration of human nature and always carry a heavy blend of pathos, tragedy, trauma, realism, and a search for meaning.

In 2025, P.T. Anderson will have crossed the milestone of 10 movies under his belt. With One Battle After Another, PTA will join the ranks of immortalized filmmakers whose works surpass expectations with each release. Below is a list of all nine movies in P.T. Anderson’s filmography, ranked from worst to best.

9. Inherent Vice (2014)

Not the worst of films, but the weakest when it comes to the caliber of P.T. Anderson, Inherent Vice falls apart like a house of cards in a gust of wind. Generally, Anderson’s works are renowned for their sprawling storylines, emotionally charged settings, suburban backdrops, and character arcs that develop against unusual odds.

Here, however, Inherent Vice stands out for its weak, messy, and overcrowded storyline. These character arcs feel one-dimensional and underdeveloped as opposed to the rich and three-dimensional quality of his other works. Despite being an ensemble movie, its strong cast cannot help raise Vice out of the depths of disorder and disorientation.

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and Katherine Waterston.

Oscars: 2 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

8. The Master (2012)

The 2012 psychological drama has the most PTA-encoded storyline of all. At the helm resides a cult leader, inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, allowing Philip Seymour Hoffman to shine in his meatiest role yet. Beside him is a broken shell of a man, traumatized and torn apart by war, and making for an easy target upon whom false prophets like to prey.

The Master has every characteristic trait needed to make an Anderson masterpiece, with its disturbing alienation, psychological manipulation, villainous mentor-figure, and tortured soul failing to escape society’s predatory grasp. But too much depth and dilemma fail to serve the overall plot well.

The Master sways under the illusion of a fever dream and becomes esoteric beyond a certain point. It is a niche study of two character profiles that is meant to impress the audience. Instead, the uninterpretable and factious nature of the plot convinces the audience to be awed by the film’s dream-like quality.

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jesse Plemons, Amy Ferguson, and Rami Malek.

Oscars: 3 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

7. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson for wrangling out a performance from Adam Sandler that no other filmmaker thought possible before. The slapstick, deadpan comedian in Sandler got a complete makeover of character as a repressed, frustrated, and socially dysfunctional individual longing for love and connection.

This absurdist drama is an unusual step out of PTA’s own circle of familiar tropes. He abandons group portraits and sprawling ensemble character epics for a single man’s journey of love and meaning. The film itself stands out as a visual portrait of kaleidoscopic emotions and interludes that help build up the sensory and poetic experience of Sandler’s poignant story. Rightfully, Punch-Drunk Love has been recognized as one of the greatest films of this century.

Cast: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Luis Guzmán.

Oscars: None. However, P.T. Anderson did win the prestigious Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

Rotten Tomatoes: 79%

6. Hard Eight (1996)

Adapted from the 1993 short film Cigarettes & Coffee, Hard Eight is Paul Thomas Anderson’s debut feature, and it already showed the extent of his skill and potential as one of Hollywood’s cinematic greats in the making. In the aftermath of Quentin Tarantino‘s tantalizing arrival, the era was populated with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction wannabes. PTA’s Hard Eight was hard-pressed to borrow from the same.

The film is a hyper-stylized thriller that involves sketchy and questionable characters, a setting that reeks of criminal elements with gambling, kidnapping, and extortion, and has the signature father-son ingredient that can be found in most PTA films. Overall, it makes for a spectacular film that is immersive, moody, suspenseful, sharp, and distinctive in all the right ways.

Cast: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Awards: Nominated at Cannes for Golden Camera.

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

5. Licorice Pizza (2021)

This coming-of-age drama is a significant tonal step away from PTA’s usual heavy-handed psychological tales of the downfall of men. Licorice Pizza is a breath of fresh air that is all the more surprising coming from P.T. Anderson’s filmography. Inspired by important classics like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, this 2021 film explores teen angst, self-discovery, and the highs and lows of young love.

Licorice Pizza is a heartfelt drama that will leave its audience feeling impossibly nostalgic with every frame of its story. Moreover, the retro ’70s setting makes the film a time capsule in its own right, both for the filmmaker and his audience. It also features the debut of Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late legendary Philip Seymour Hoffman, a frequent PTA collaborator.

Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, and Skyler Gisondo.

Oscars: 3 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

4. Phantom Thread (2017)

Deeply disturbing yet aesthetically hypnotic, Phantom Thread is a carefully drawn-out psychological study of tyrannical men and their self-destructive tendencies. Only Daniel Day-Lewis could make the film’s central character feel so despotic yet pathetically humane, deliver a constrictive performance, and then retire for eight years until the 2025 film Anemone.

The film’s tightly woven storyline follows an obsessively controlling fashion designer consumed by his art and need for perfection. A woman’s arrival threatens to upend his fastidious lifestyle as his frosty nature clashes with the wild-at-heart unpredictability of his muse. The result of this suffocating union is an escalating spiral of unforgiving and deeply traumatic acts that can only come from the most vindictive depths of human nature.

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville.

Oscars: 1 win + 5 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

3. Boogie Nights (1997)

Boogie Nights is an unusual film born from the visceral and quirky imagination of a 17-year-old high schooler. It is unofficially the first of Paul Thomas Anderson’s works, being an expansion of the 1988 mockumentary, The Dirk Diggler Story, that pays homage to the porn industry of the 1970s.

If it was too ambitious for a 17-year-old P.T. Anderson, Boogie Nights was even more so for a filmmaker in his sophomore project, trying to establish his own identity and reputation in Hollywood. But Anderson doesn’t disappoint. Boogie Nights lays out Hollywood and show business in all its gory flaws and cynicisms. The audience is treated to an underworld of ambition, stardom, the repercussions of undue fame, and the downfall and toxicity of such a lifestyle.

But the film stands out especially because of its irreverent humor, the brilliant performances from its cast, sharp and witty dialogue, and the poignant plot that still poses a big question mark to the audience for its dubious ending.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Burt Reynolds, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, etc.

Oscars: 3 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

2. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Often regarded as the best film ever made, this story about an ambitious oil tycoon and his climb to power is a brilliant epic and a masterful display of Paul Thomas Anderson’s range as a visionary storyteller, writer, and director. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as an unstoppable opportunist who would manipulate and sacrifice his own flesh and blood to rise in a land of cutthroat capitalism.

The film is packed with an abundance of violence, but at its center lies the battle of religion versus capitalism. Meanwhile, Daniel Day-Lewis delivers his career’s best performance as a man corrupted beyond redemption by his own desires and ambition.

As Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus, it is difficult to describe the magnitude of There Will Be Blood in a summary, but suffice it to say, the film is one of the greatest movies of the century for its epic exploration of the ruthless and unchecked capitalism of the early 20th century.

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Russell Harvard, Dillon Freasier, and Colton Woodward.

Oscars: 2 wins + 6 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

1. Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia is a sprawling epic of ten tragically fated individuals, each distinct and significant in themselves, with a story to tell. They are also tied to each other in unforeseen ways. Here, none of the characters feel short-changed as the director masterfully juggles the lives and stories of the characters spread all around the board, whose lives get affected and influenced by a series of complex and interconnected events over the course of a single summer night.

Magnolia is a difficult film to categorize under a single banner. It is as much a poignant family drama as it is a suspense thriller. The film is rife with every flavor of plot designs and character tropes that make up a signature PTA epic.

Tom Cruise delivers the best performance of his lifetime, and gets criminally snubbed at the Oscars. Every other character and event contained in this film is executed with a haunting quality that will leave the viewer feeling torn and emotionally drained in the end.

This film deserves its place at the top for Paul Thomas Anderson’s ability to deliver a cohesive, impactful tale at each level without feeling overcrowded or burdened by too much complexity and indulgent storytelling. Though not the highest-rated of his films, Magnolia stands out as his best and most audacious work to date.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Blackman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Baker Hall, Melinda Dillon, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, John C. Reilly, and Jason Robards (in his last role before death).

Oscars: 3 nominations.

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%

One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10th Film

From the look of things, this comedy action thriller could very well mess up the order of Paul Thomas Anderson’s worst-to-best movie rankings. Ahead of the film’s world premiere in L.A. on September 8, Steven Spielberg blessed it by equating One Battle After Another to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, the highest-rated of all his classics.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio in his first collaboration with P.T. Anderson, the film follows an ex-revolutionary who is reluctantly drawn back into his former life following the arrival of a former foe and his daughter’s disappearance.

Below is a list of the cast of One Battle After Another, the latest of PTA’s works that is quickly shaping up to be a critical darling and an awards-season contender.

Given the range, magnitude, and quality of his work, no two cinephiles are known to agree on the greatest PTA movie ever made. As such, which of the above stands out to you as the best of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films? Let us know in the comments below.

One Battle After Another will premiere worldwide on September 26, 2025.