17. Magnolia

dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

Of all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, Magnolia is the one that beckons to be watched over and over. It’s so rich with themes and characters that it asks you can’t help but reevaluate what its pointing to every time you see it. Is it about loneliness, or the way we treat our children, or forgiveness? It’s about all of these things and more.

One of the things that all of Anderson’s best films excel at is their editing. Magnolia cuts from one scene to another, one character to the next, so organically and it refuses to let go of our attention. The way each scene is stitched together so that they cannot be separated from the ones that precede them or the ones that follow are like the inseparable and interconnected lives of the characters. Anderson draws us in, and we’re there with them every step of the way.