--- title: "There Will Be Blood: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood" critics_score: 88 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # There Will Be Blood (2007): what the critics said Critics' score 88 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are strongly positive, with praise centred on Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance as Daniel Plainview and Paul Thomas Anderson’s treatment of greed, power and American ambition. Critics repeatedly single out the opening sequence, finding its largely wordless storytelling a forceful introduction to Plainview’s character. Jonny Greenwood’s score also draws praise, while Anderson’s command of scale allows the film to work as both a close character study and a broader account of wealth pursued without moral restraint. The differences are chiefly matters of enthusiasm rather than outright dissent, and the reservations cluster around the later storytelling. The Skinny admires the first hour but finds narrative gaps thereafter; Den of Geek likewise questions the later stretch and the final scene. Eye for Film raises a separate concern about the simplicity of the religious opposition, though treats it as minor: none of these reservations overturns the critics’ broadly favourable view. ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 5/5. 8 February 2008. The critic calls it a dark, uncompromising film that is thrillingly original and distinctive, with visionary passion. He singles out the extraordinary opening scenes and Daniel Day-Lewis's mesmeric, virtuoso performance as the misanthropic oilman Daniel Plainview. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/feb/08/paulthomasanderson.drama) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Rating A. 26 December 2007. Calls it a stunningly powerful epic and uncompromising masterpiece that fully realizes Anderson's promise. Singles out Day-Lewis's towering performance as a rapacious oilman descending into monstrousness and the film's vision of capitalism divorced from morality. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/there-will-be-blood-1798203575) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2008. The review hails Anderson's film as possibly his finest, a hefty meditation on money and madness that is intense and immense, with standout performances from Day-Lewis and Dano and a towering ambition that points to Oscars. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/there-will-be-blood-review/) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 February 2008. The critic finds the film an uncompromising and intelligent work that may be a masterpiece, praising its searing portrait of greed and power through Day-Lewis's incredible performance and the clash of two titanic egos. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/will-blood-review/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 November 2007. Festival review. The review describes the film as a vivid, sprawling parable about greed and moral corrosion, hailing Daniel Day-Lewis's volcanic performance as the monstrous rags-to-riches oil man while noting its anti-Western stance and parallels to classic moral dramas. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/there-will-be-blood/4035948.article) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2007. Paul Thomas Anderson delivers a boldly strange and magnificent departure with this intense character study of a turn-of-the-century oil man, distinguished by its physicality, linguistic distinction, and original score. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/there-will-be-blood-4-1200554877/) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager 12 December 2007. Celebrates Anderson's newfound maturity and restraint without sacrificing artistry. Singles out the opening wordless sequence, Day-Lewis's mesmerizing embodiment of Plainview, and Jonny Greenwood's score as giving the film its throbbing soul. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/there-will-be-blood-3303/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — John DeFore 30 September 2007. Festival review. Praises the film as both epic and miniature in its portrayal of greed at the dawn of the American century. Singles out Daniel Day-Lewis's powerhouse performance as the self-made, soul-dead oil man. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/will-be-blood-review-2007-movie-159419/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic’s Pick. 26 December 2007. The film is an epic American nightmare about greed and biblical-scale ambition in the early oil industry, anchored by a monstrous, shattering performance from Daniel Day-Lewis as the ruthless speculator Daniel Plainview. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/movies/26bloo.html) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 5 out of 5 stars. 4 February 2008. The critic lauds the film's bold epic scope as a foundation myth of American ambition, centering on Daniel Day-Lewis's towering, restrained performance as the ruthless, monstrous oil prospector Daniel Plainview. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/there-will-be-blood) ## Eye for Film — Chris Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2008. The critic praises it as a superb achievement in filmmaking with immense skill and gigantic performances that grips from beginning to end. They single out the simplistic Christ and Antichrist theme as a minor quibble. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/there-will-be-blood-film-review-by-chris) ## The Skinny — Paul Greenwood Rating ★★★★. 5 February 2008. The critic calls it a magnificent tale of greed and obsession that will win Oscars, singling out Daniel Day-Lewis's astonishing performance and the first hour's blend of storytelling and technical beauty while noting it falters later with narrative gaps. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/there-will-be-blood) ## Den of Geek — Simon Brew Rating 4 out of 5. 23 January 2008. The critic finds it masterful but not quite a masterpiece, praising Daniel Day-Lewis's mesmeric central performance and the penetrative score while noting problems with the flawed back end and odd final scene. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/there-will-be-blood-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/there-will-be-blood.md