25 years ago, Paul Thomas Anderson followed up his success with Boogie Nights with a cinematic opera that defied expectations and categorization. Playing like an ensemble chamber piece, switching between viewpoints, this PTA film earns its title, releasing layer upon layer, unfolding like the petals of its eponymous flower.

On its anniversary, let’s break down and decipher what exactly is going on, and decide once and for all, can this film save us? It’s time to Pop That! On 1999’s Magnolia.