The Master is a 2012 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. It tells the story of Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society who meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), a leader of a religious movement known as “The Cause,” who sees something in Quell and accepts him into the movement. Freddie takes a liking to “The Cause” and begins traveling with Dodd along the East Coast to spread the teachings.
The performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman were brilliant and the film is well worth watching. It is loosely based on the Scientology cult’s leader L. Ron Hubbard but overall it is more pertinent to new age cults in general.