There Will Be Blood (2007): Greed, God, and the Frontier

We will be meeting at Southeast Regional Library in Room C

Please note: We will not be watching the movie during the event, nor is viewing it beforehand required.

Join us for a deep dive into oil, faith, and ambition as we discuss There Will Be Blood (2007), following Daniel Plainview’s ruthless rise as an oilman whose pursuit of power, wealth, and control slowly corrodes his family ties, his rivalry with a charismatic preacher, and ultimately his own sense of humanity.

Movie Summary:
There Will Be Blood (2007) is a period drama about Daniel Plainview, a driven prospector who becomes a powerful oilman in early 20th‑century California. As he strikes deals with small towns and clashes with a young local preacher, his hunger for wealth and control slowly poisons his relationships, his adopted son, and his own sanity, turning the promise of the American dream into something stark and unsettling.

## Theme 1: Ambition, Capitalism, and Self‑Made Identity

• When does intense ambition stop being admirable and start becoming corrosive—to the person pursuing it and to the people around them, as we see in Daniel’s drive to own every well and pipeline no matter the personal cost?

• Is it possible to become very wealthy in a competitive system without, at some point, taking advantage of other people’s weaker bargaining position, like when Daniel buys land from families who don’t realize how valuable the oil beneath them is?

• If someone’s main motivation is to “beat” everyone else and stand alone at the top, as Daniel seems to want in his rivalry with other oilmen, can their success still be seen as a genuine achievement, or is it already a kind of failure?

Theme 2: Religion, Performance, and Power

• How can we tell whether public expressions of faith are sincere beliefs or performances aimed at gaining influence, as with Eli’s dramatic healings and sermons that also secure him status and money in the town?

• In a conflict between economic power and religious power, which tends to dominate in the long run, and why—especially considering how Daniel’s money and control eventually overpower Eli’s authority in key moments?

• Can religious leaders genuinely serve both spiritual goals and their own desire for status and security, or do those aims inevitably collide, as suggested by Eli’s attempt to use the church to negotiate with and humble Daniel?

Theme 3: Family, Blood, and Conditional Love

• What makes someone truly part of a family—biology, shared history, or emotional commitment—when we see Daniel raise H.W. as his son yet later dismiss him as “not my blood” once their relationship becomes strained?

• If a parent provides materially for a child but is emotionally distant or manipulative, how should we judge them as a parent, in light of Daniel giving H.W. comfort and opportunity while also sending him away and using him for business appearances?

• Do you think love is still love if it can be withdrawn the moment pride or control is threatened, as when Daniel turns on H.W. after he chooses his own path in the oil business?

Theme 4: Isolation, Meaning, and the Cost of Victory

• If someone “wins” in terms of wealth and power but ends up isolated and consumed by anger, like Daniel alone in his mansion by the end, have they succeeded, failed, or achieved something more ambiguous?

• Is rejecting any larger moral or spiritual framework—seeing the world only in terms of power and control—a clear‑eyed realism or a kind of self‑deception, as suggested by Daniel’s contempt for both religion and human connection?

• When a person reaches the end of their struggle and declares themselves “finished,” as Daniel does after his final act of violence, what makes that ending feel like completion rather than emptiness—or is it mostly emptiness here?