The Master – Review: How Ideas Become More Powerful Than Will Itself

The Master is not your average drama. It is a slow, but increasingly tense thriller that tells the story of a drunken WW2 veteran with PTSD, played by Joaquin Phoenix, as he stumbles upon the Master of a cult played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, that relies on repetitive hypnotic exercises to manipulate his followers.

A tale of power dynamics, ideologies, and the vulnerabilities of man, The Master is a warning tale on how our own sense of belonging and companionship can be fed by an ideology so strong that one’s will is no longer existent, but transformed and manipulated by other means.

Hypnotic Performances

This movie is completely star-packed. Aside from Phoenix & Seymour Hoffman, The Master includes Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Rami Malek. The acting in this film is one of the best by an ensemble cast on the decade, and the Academy took note of this by only deeming The Master worthy of nominations for acting awards. Amy Adams was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, while Joaquin Phoenix & Phillip Seymour Hoffman landed a nomination for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively.

Amy Adams plays the woman behind the Master, Peggy Dodd. As the wife of Lancaster, Amy has a way with the camera that makes her as an omnipresent power on the scene. She gives the feeling that she is always watching; always on the lookout for not only his husband but most importantly, for the cause itself.

She is perfect in knowing when to make her entrances and when to best leave for Lancaster to become the protagonistic leader, and this is what makes her even more dangerous. She makes you doubt about who holds the real power in the cause. The scenes where she is alone with other characters just spice things up and make the viewer doubt even more, as she plays Peggy with delicacy and fierceness. This is a very difficult task to achieve onscreen in a believable way, but Adams is no short of talent and she excels in being this powerful, behind the scenes, master of puppets.

Phoenix also stands out as he portrays an erratic & fragile man that looks like one of the sources of inspiration for his more recent Joker performance. The resemblance is uncanny. There’s an unpredictability that Joaquin has been able to perfect through the years that seems to have been perfected over the course of this film, which makes Joaquin be a different actor than the rest. For films with this somber and hypnotizing tone, it’s like a ring to a finger.

But in a world of stars, it’s the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman who steals the show, as in most movies he’s in. Phillip absorbs your attention like so many people are actually capable of. The Master shows Seymour Hoffman’s dedication at its peak and it is shown in how he manages to burst into emotion when demanded by a scene.

But it is not only the overexpressed emotions which make Phillip shine but the somber moments as well. In these moments, it is his calm, low voice manages to hypnotize not only his followers but us as an audience as well. He is a master of pacing and execution; he knows perfectly when to slow down or when to rush the words, and this is just some of the many things on why today’s cinema greatly misses him.

Story Elements in The Master

It has a perfectionist cinematographic style that lingers on with its use of framing and long scenes, which helps the audience maintain their focus and immerse themselves in the scene.

Not without mention, the script, also written by Paul Thomas Anderson is carefully brilliant. The Master relies on it for the development of the dreadful feeling that lingers on for most of the film; a feeling that is also fueled by the unpredictability of Joaquin Phoenix’s character.

All these filmmaking tools join together and align themselves with the narrative behind cults. The movie starts slow & has an unorthodox use of its score & storytelling structure, but is quite good at making you lose in thought with how manipulative & successful cults can be to encourage behavioral changes and devotion.

The Master is a story that resembles greatly the journey and consequences of people that stumble upon a cult. The Master’s theme seeks to expose how power-hungry people with a deity complex pry from the vulnerabilities of others, whether it’s a perfectly sane and normal person or a troubled guy like Freddie.

For a complete study of The Master’s theme, check out our analysis by clicking here.

Score: 9/10

The Master lacks a definitive climax per se but is no short of impactful, dramatic & emotional sequences, that are nothing but amplified by the masterful performances behind its A-List cast.