Not suitable for depressed people.

Rating: 7/10 (24 August 2016)

This film tells the story of an oil prospector who finds a huge deposit in unpromising region. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which also provides the script, the film stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano.
This is one of the most pessimistic films I've seen. The whole film's atmosphere is dark and negative, showing the saga of Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), who enriches after discovering oil in the lands next to a farm which belongs to Eli (Paul Dano), one wanabe- pastor with baby face from an evangelical cult. This film has no good guys or bad guys, is a vast gray area and wickedness is on everyone's mind. Plainview is obsessed with profits; Eli is a fanatical who mistreats the family and controls a congregation with an iron fist. Its the confrontation between these two men, with antagonistic visions and wills, which justifies the film title.
The two main actors did an exceptional job. Both are odious in their roles, the way they show to be bad people trying to look a certain hypocritical seriousness in their daily actions. Day-Lewis, however, is too similar with some characters who have starred in past films like "Gangs of New York" (and I refer to physical likeness and make- up, of course). Dillon Freasier also made a good performance in the role of HW, the little deaf child of Plainview. The costumes and sets goes well in the context of time and place of the action. The cinematography, dark and misty, combines harmoniously with the gloomy atmosphere of the film, and a deeply depressed soundtrack (written by Jonny Greenwood), very atonal, who perfectly embodies the visible (or implied) cruelty of this film.