Few films in recent years have made such an instant and dramatic impact as Anderson’s towering yarn about crude oil and God. Fewer still have put their finger on such a mortally topical concern, which is why this melodrama, inspired by an Upton Sinclair novel, has secured such a lofty berth on our list. It’s a stormy thriller about how oil turns a frontier hero into a monster, and Daniel Day-Lewis takes possession of the role like a demonic force of nature. The year is 1898, and women have yet to be invented in Texas. After years of bitter nothing, Day-Lewis’s rake-thin, hard-as-nails prospector uncorks his first gusher and starts building an empire.

By 1911 Daniel Plainview is a fully fledged tycoon, mopping up land from dirt-poor pilgrims with neither the tools, nor the nous, to dig their own fortunes. It’s a masterclass in how the West was truly sold, and a virtuoso piece of acting. The meticulous skill with which Day-Lewis assembles his performance around Plainview’s frontier tics and mannerisms is a genuine, and truly spartan, pleasure. He has a voice like Abe Lincoln, a strong handshake, and an honest limp. His ghastly ambition only becomes apparent when he clashes spectacularly with a young, evangelical minister, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), whose tiny parish sits on top of the biggest untapped reservoir in America. The self-made millionaire and the self-appointed scourge of God are acutely aware how much a contract can transfigure their less-than-divine ambitions. The deal they strike is duly blighted by horrific accidents and ugly betrayals.

What makes Anderson’s film such a magnificent watch is the quality of the hypocrisy. The failure of these two emblematic characters to square religion and greed is quite sublime, and alarmingly relevant. James Christopher

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