Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2012, Digital, 137 min. 

A film in constant motion like the waves Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) used to drift upon as a sailor before his discharge, THE MASTER dives into Quell’s conflicted relationship with Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a larger-than-life cult leader in search of spiritual enlightenment in the face of trauma in post-war America. Dueling virtuoso performances from Phoenix and Hoffman lend an air of the monumental to this riveting, and often confounding, if not perplexing live-wire act from Paul Thomas Anderson, who freeforms an inspired tale of power and submission and religiosity from such varied influences as the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Thomas Pynchon, and John Steinbeck.