Magnolia

Magnolia (1999) is Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling drama you can watch online on iFILM. One rainy day in the San Fernando Valley pulls nine strangers toward a single, unforgettable collision.

A dying TV producer asks to see the son he abandoned. That son is Frank, a swaggering self-help guru played by Tom Cruise, and the reunion cracks his whole act apart. Around him orbit a game-show host hiding a diagnosis, his runaway daughter, a quiz-kid prodigy crushed by his father, a lovesick cop, and a caretaker just trying to do right. Anderson braids these threads into one long meditation on chance, where coincidence lands like both a verdict and a mercy.

The film runs over three hours, and its third act takes a turn people still argue about. Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Robards and John C. Reilly anchor a cast that rewards every rewatch. Aimee Mann's songs carry the whole thing, and the moment when the entire ensemble sings along has become a film-school staple. Stream Magnolia (1999) online on iFILM.