Freddie, a volatile, heavy-drinking veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds some semblance of a family when he stumbles onto the ship of Lancaster Dodd, the charismatic leader of a new "religion" he forms after World War II.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.5/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.99/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 86
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Paul Thomas Anderson
Production
Annapurna Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company, JoAnne Sellar Productions
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Rami Malek, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, Ambyr Childers, Madisen Beaty, Kevin J. O'Connor, Patty McCormack, Lena Endre, Barbara Brownell, Amy Ferguson, Jennifer Neala Page, Christopher Evan Welch, Mike Howard, Frank Bettag, Mimi Cozzens, Jillian Bell, Joshua Close
Curator Review
Verdict
A hypnotic, unsettling character study about trauma, faith, dependency, and the need to submit or dominate. It’s demanding and elliptical, but the performances, period detail, and psychological tension make it one of the most rewarding dramas of the 2010s.
Best for
Viewers who like ambiguous, performance-driven dramas
Fans of psychologically intense postwar stories
People interested in cults, charisma, and power dynamics
Audiences open to slow-burn, mood-heavy filmmaking
Skip if
You want a straightforward plot or clear answers
You dislike abrasive protagonists or emotionally cold storytelling
You prefer fast pacing and conventional catharsis
You’re not in the mood for a film that feels deliberately elusive
Overview
The Master is less a story than a pressure system: two men circling each other, each trying to define what the other needs. Paul Thomas Anderson turns postwar dislocation into something tactile and feverish, with Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman giving performances that feel both feral and deeply wounded. The film is funny in flashes, but its real power comes from how it keeps refusing easy interpretation.
Worth noting
What lingers is the sense of hunger: for belonging, for authority, for intimacy, for a structure that can hold a damaged life together. The relationship at the center is never simple mentorship or manipulation; it’s a volatile bond built on recognition, projection, and mutual need. Amy Adams adds a chilling stillness that sharpens the film’s emotional geometry.
Bottom line
This is a movie for viewers who enjoy being unsettled by craft as much as by content. The imagery, sound, and period textures are immaculate, but they serve a story that remains slippery and unresolved. If you’re willing to meet it on its own terms, it’s one of the great modern dramas about the human desire to be claimed.
Top Letterboxd reviews
PTAbro (5★) · 9971 likes
Freddie is a bad dog. He keeps running away from home. He stumbles on a new master who loves him very much and tries to teach him to behave. Freddie loves his new master very much too, and tries to learn new tricks for him. Unfortunately, the call of the wild proves too much for Freddie and he runs away again. After a time, he returns to the master he loves so much only to find that his master has… more Freddie is a bad dog. He keeps running away from home. He stumbles on a new master who loves him very much and tries to teach him to behave. Freddie loves his new master very much too, and tries to learn new tricks for him. Unfortunately, the call of the wild proves too much for Freddie and he runs away again. After a time, he returns to the master he loves so much only to find that his master has… more
mia lee vicino (4★) · 7796 likes
lancaster dodd is just tyler durden for people who know how to read
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 7161 likes
“If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you’d be the first person in the history of the world.”
I’ve thought about this quote constantly for 8 years now. Saw this movie in 70mm at an Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, during college at my most “young adult trying to understand film as much as everybody around him.” I walked away with nothing more than “pretty… more
alyssa rae thomas (5★) · 5379 likes
fellas is it gay for a man to be your other half? like is it gay to be codependent with a man who possesses the qualities you desire while you possess the qualities he desires yet neither of you dare to speak it out loud for fear of admitting weakness? fellas is it gay to channel all of your inner repression and anger into violence against anyone who dares to question the only man who believes in you? is it… more fellas is it gay for a man to be your other half? like is it gay to be codependent with a man who possesses the qualities you desire while you possess the qualities he desires yet neither of you dare to speak it out loud for fear of admitting weakness? fellas is it gay to channel all of your inner repression and anger into violence against anyone who dares to question the only man who believes in you? is it… more
Mike Ginn (4★) · 5275 likes
Phillip Seymour Hoffman / Jesse Plemons is an all timer for father-son casting
2018 · Drama · 1h 53m · R · Curator 8.8/10 (323.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix Standard with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A severe, inward drama about faith, guilt, and a man trying to impose order on spiritual chaos.