Ranking All Of Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Movies
“What are Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Movies?” We looked at all of Anderson’s directed filmography and ranked them against one another to answer that very question!
We took all of the movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and looked at their Rotten Tomato Critic, Rotten Tomato User, Metacritic, Metacritic User, IMDB, and Letterboxd scores, ranking them against one another to see which movies came out on top. The movies are ranked in our list below based on which movies have the highest overall score between all 6 review sites in comparison with all of the other movies by the same director. The process is all very scientific with no flaws at all.
The full ranking chart is also included below the countdown on the bottom of the page.
Happy Viewing!
The Top Film’s Of Paul Thomas Anderson
9 ) Inherent Vice (2014)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 9
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 9
- Metacritc Critic Score: 5
- Metacritic User Score: 5
- IMDB User Review Score: 9
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry “Doc” Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
8 ) Hard Eight (1996)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 6
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 4
- Metacritc Critic Score: 6
- Metacritic User Score: 7
- IMDB User Review Score: 7
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.
7 ) The Master (2012)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 5
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 8
- Metacritc Critic Score: 3
- Metacritic User Score: 6
- IMDB User Review Score: 8
- Letterboxd User Score: 5
Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new “religion” he forms after World War II.
6 ) Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 5
- Metacritc Critic Score: 6
- Metacritic User Score: 2
- IMDB User Review Score: 6
- Letterboxd User Score: 5
A beleaguered small-business owner gets a harmonium and embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman.
5 ) Magnolia (1999)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 6
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 1
- Metacritc Critic Score: 9
- Metacritic User Score: 8
- IMDB User Review Score: 2
- Letterboxd User Score: 3
An epic mosaic of many interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
4 ) Junun (2015)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 1
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 6
- Metacritc Critic Score: 6
- Metacritic User Score: 1
- IMDB User Review Score: 4
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
Paul Thomas Anderson joined his close friend and collaborator Jonny Greenwood on a trip to Rajasthan in northwest India, where they were hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and he brought his camera with him. Their destination was the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort, where Greenwood was recording an album with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and an amazing group of musicians.
3 ) Phantom Thread (2017)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 3
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 7
- Metacritc Critic Score: 2
- Metacritic User Score: 4
- IMDB User Review Score: 4
- Letterboxd User Score: 3
Renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover.
2 ) Boogie Nights (1997)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 2
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 1
- Metacritc Critic Score: 4
- Metacritic User Score: 9
- IMDB User Review Score: 3
- Letterboxd User Score: 2
Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams’ rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, “Dirk Diggler”. Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams’ dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.
1 ) There Will Be Blood (2007)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 3
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 3
- Metacritc Critic Score: 1
- Metacritic User Score: 2
- IMDB User Review Score: 1
- Letterboxd User Score: 1
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview moves to oil-rich California. Using his adopted son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainviews motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Best Movies
Paul Thomas Anderson Review Website Filmography Rankings
| Film | RT Critic | RT User | MC Critic | MC User | IMDB | Letterboxd | Overal Rank |
| There Will Be Blood (2007) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Boogie Nights (1997) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Phantom Thread (2017) | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Junun (2015) | 1 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| Magnolia (1999) | 6 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Punch-Drunk Love (2002) | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| The Master (2012) | 5 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Hard Eight (1996) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Inherent Vice (2014) | 9 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
