Erwin blows his first acting job and finds himself stranded in Texas, where he's taken under the wing of a nearly bankrupt oil driller Merle and his cohort Faye. The three set off on a wild adventure to outwit the bank and a corrupt oil company to hit pay dirt before Merle's dreams are foreclosed.
Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.