Film loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil", this is a sprawling epic about family, greed, corruption, and the pursuit of the American dream. In the California oil fields at the turn of the 20th century, oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a hardscrabble man who is tipped off about the possible oil strike of a lifetime. In short order he goes from wildcatter to oil baron. Coupling his fortunes and that of his son, H. W. (Russell Harvard) to this strike, he begins to amass an empire of wealth based on the black gold. But his richness comes at a price. The tip about the oil came from a preacher family who sold him the mineral rights to the land but only in return for money to be given to their church and the enigmatic child pastor Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). Though Daniel assesses Eli's preaching as that of a charlatan, nonetheless Eli serves as a mirror into Daniel's soul. Daniel begins to see the course of lies, trickery, deceit, and nihilism that his life has devolved to and begins to re-examine his place in it.