Kill Out Ambition or It Will Kill You

What happens when someone achieves everything they ever wanted? In the movie There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview shows us. He travels from town to town, buying oil-rich land from unsuspecting farmers. His empire grows from a single well to a network of pipelines, refineries, and railways.

Finally, he builds his dream. A sprawling mansion with a private bowling alley. But in this monument to his success, Plainview spends his days drinking alone. With nothing left to achieve, he descends into bitter rage, eventually beating a longtime rival to death with a bowling pin. His last words in the film—"I'm finished"—carry a double meaning. He's done with his kill, but he was already finished long ago.

The fictional Plainview mirrors real oil tycoons. People who began as prospectors, struck oil, built empires, and then collapsed into scandal, crime, or suicide. The pattern repeats. They achieved everything, then found nothing waiting at the summit.