David Lowery’s 2013 drama follows a convict’s slow return to the woman and child he left behind, using restrained performances, atmospheric cinematography by Bradford Young, and a hushed score by Daniel Hart to evoke longing as a physical condition. Set against a mythic Texas landscape, it trades genre mechanics for emotional resonance, prioritising mood over momentum and silence over exposition.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 drama follows Freddie Quell, a volatile WWII veteran, as he falls under the influence of Lancaster Dodd, leader of a fledgling philosophical movement. Shot almost entirely on 65 mm film, it relies on Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s physically precise performances, Jonny Greenwood’s jagged score, and a structure that favours ambiguity over exposition. Set in 1945–46, it explores post-war dislocation, the seduction of certainty, and the limits of personal transformation — without offering diagnosis, satire or resolution.