Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier, Ciaran Hinds

Daniel establishes one of his rigs and taps into a huge underground reserve of black gold, which he hopes to sell via an ambitious pipeline across the state.

The tug of war between business and the church threatens the entire enterprise, pitting Daniel against an increasingly evangelical Eli in a battle for the residents' hearts and minds.

Adapted from Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!, There Will Be Blood dissects the life of a charismatic trailblazer, who is gradually corrupted by power and greed.

Technically, Paul Thomas Anderson's film takes the breath away, establishing a mood of grim foreboding with a largely dialogue-free opening 15-minute salvo that melds Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's avant-garde electronic score with Robert Elswit's sweeping cinematography.

Every frame is meticulously crafted, and in the eye of this dramatic storm is Day-Lewis, bristling with malice and self-loathing. His portrayal of a ruthless, ambitious and spiritually bankrupt oilman at the turn of the 20th century is spellbinding.