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Paul Dano has put together quite the commendable filmography over the years, from "Prisoners" to "Ruby Sparks" to "The Batman" to "The Fabelmans" — which is why it was so surprising that the widely liked and deeply respected actor was on the receiving end of some pretty disparaging recent comments from director Quentin Tarantino.
During a December 2025 appearance on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast,”, the "Pulp Fiction" filmmaker criticized Dano's performance in the Paul Thomas Anderson classic "There Will Be Blood" (for which Dano deservedly received a BAFTA Award nod), calling him "such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy."
Tarantino's comments drew the ire of film fans and industry pros alike, who largely came out in defense of the performer. “That was really nice,” Dano recently told Variety of the groundswell of goodwill he's received in the last few weeks. “I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to.”
Frankly, the actor only has to let his great work speak for itself — here are three top-rate Paul Dano films to add to your watch list, as well as where to stream them.
'There Will Be Blood'
A 22-year-old Paul Dano holds his own against a true cinematic GOAT — that would be Daniel Day-Lewis himself — in Paul Thomas Anderon's sprawling 2007 epic, loosely based on the 1927 novel "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair. The film follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), a down-and-out silver miner turned self-made oil tycoon as he embarks on a ruthless quest for wealth during the Californian oil boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dano plays the dual role of twin brothers Paul and Eli Sunday, the latter a charismatic, ambitious young preacher who finds himself in a spiritual and psychological clash with Day-Lewis' character. The young actor was reportedly only cast in the clergyman role days before shooting began, which makes his intense and unnerving performance here all the more impressive.
Watch "There Will Be Blood" on Paramount+ now
'Love & Mercy'
Long before Austin Butler played Elvis, Timothée Chalamet played Dylan and Jeremy Allen White played Springsteen, Paul Dano starred as a young Brian Wilson in this 2014 Bill Pohlad-directed biopic, which chronicles the meteoric rise of the Beach Boys as well as the musician's struggles with mental illness during the 1960s and '80s. (John Cusack plays the elder Wilson.)
Along with putting on weight to play the performer, Dano carefully taps into Wilson's mannerisms, both musical and personal, without falling into any traps of tacky caricature. "Brian is such an honest and sort of special spirit. I felt it was more important to get inside whatever that spirit means, or heart," the actor told The Dinner Party Download. "That is what makes his music, and that is something that is ineffable. You sort of have to chase it around and, hopefully, discover it."
Watch "Love and Mercy" on Cinemax (via Prime Video) now
'Little Miss Sunshine'
Impossibly, this enduring Sundance darling turns 20 years old this year, with original cast members Paul Dano, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and Abigail Breslin reuniting at that Utah-set film fest earlier this month to celebrate the sweet and funny flick.
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the 2006 indie dramedy follows a dysfunctional American family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant and embarking on a cross-country trip together in a VW bus to make that dream happen.
Dano portrays eldest son Dwayne Hoover, a moody, Nietzsche-loving teen who' has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming a test pilot for the Air Force. His emotional breakdown later in the film is one of the title's most heartbreaking moments.
Watch "Little Miss Sunshine" on Hulu now
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