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The Master
I swear, I don’t know what it is, but PTA’s films have such a pristine and unique quality and look to them, and I can’t put my finger on what it is that makes them that way. You can watch one and just KNOW that it’s his work. There’s a lot of directors you can say that for, but for PTA in particular, it’s evident. They just stuck out so much and have a sharpness that’s really appealing. This film is a great example of that. It’s so beautifully made, while feeling extremely uneasy and almost angsty. There’s a calmness in it, but a storm to come. I will state again that PTA is really one of the best writers working today, and nobody can craft a story, characters, and dialogue better than he can. I think I can relate to this one because of its religious themes. Not that I grew up in a cult, but there’s definitely been times where I’ve heard something at a church that doesn’t quite make sense to me as an individual. So experiencing that feeling through these different people was for sure interesting. All the scenes where there was some kind of eye contact or practice (such as the infringement scene, or the “hypnosis” scene) were very elevated to me and got into my head big time. The performances are what help make this what it is. Hoffman (rest in peace you freaking legend) delivers my all time favorite performance of his. No disrespect to Christoph Waltz, but Hoffman should’ve taken that Oscar home. Phoenix also does indescribably great, and probably my favorite performance besides ‘Joker’. Amy Adams was very solid as always, and I loved seeing Rami Malek and Laura Dern for a little bit. Lastly, the soundtrack and score was basically perfect. The songs set the mood for the time, and the score was ominous and built up a lot of negative emotion that fuels the story. Overall, this is wonderfully made but definitely got into my head. While it did feel long, and a couple moments went over my head, I can definitely see myself enjoying this a lot more on a rewatch. I’d recommend it to all drama fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go check it out now!
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