Paul Thomas Anderson — American Director born on June 26, 1970,

Paul Thomas Anderson — also known as P.T. Anderson — is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Interested in film-making at a young age, Anderson was encouraged by his father Ernie Anderson to become a filmmaker. Anderson is a distinctive filmmaker of his generation, praised as a wunderkind after the release of the dramas Boogie Nights and Magnolia... (wikipedia)

It's a gamble you take, the risk of alienating an audience. But there's a theory - sometimes it's better to confuse them for five minutes than let them get ahead of you for 10 seconds.
I've never been a fan of whimsical or confusing storytelling.
I remember being taught in school that you would underline things that you liked. I remember just underlining everything as a kid, thinking, 'This has all gotta be important!' I would just underline the whole thing!
I really subscribe to that old adage that you should never let the audience get ahead of you for a second. So if the film's abrasive and wrongfoots people then, y'know, that's great. But I hope it involves an audience.
You have to be a brat in order to carve out your parameters, and you have to be a monster to anyone who gets in your way. But sometimes it's difficult to know when that's necessary and when you're just being a baby, throwing your rattle from the cage.