The Master

edit: BEFORE GOING IN REALIZE THAT I FOCUSED ON A THE CHARACTER WRITING RATHER THAN THE PLOT ITSELF BUT DONT GET IT MISCONSTRUED I STILL BELIEVE THIS TO BE A JUDGMENT ON THAT CONTRADICTIONS OF A CULT  I tend to say this a lot with phenomenal movies I see, but… this might be one of the greatest I’ve ever seen. I understand why someone would choose to disagree with me, but I have one reason, and one reason alone, as to why I think this. The character writing is exceptional. I love Paul Thomas Anderson as a writer because rather than prioritizing the story above the characters, he prioritizes the characters above the story. He gives the necessary plot for the story to get people to watch them, but it’s a mask to surprise you with the real film. He does it so often, giving us a world to build for a good chunk of the first act before truly introducing the movie people paid to see, and even then it’s a ploy. This is a movie described as a cult film, and while that may be true, it’s really a film about a guy who feels misplaced everywhere he goes. He longs for connection no matter how hard he acts and how much he contradicts it out loud… he wants to feel with others. It’s shown in his actions. Most cult films just use a cult as a narrative device to say, “this cult evil… the end.” We never get that. Although the ideology of the cult is absurd, it’s another device to show a longing for connection. The whole belief system is that we have lived trillions of years’ worth of lives, and in those past lives we’ve lived through unimaginable trauma. This group comes together to “unlock” those memories, but I just see this as a way of them exploiting the fact people feel stuck and need an escape of some kind. This film is so vulnerable, from the pure and utter sadness only shown through a character’s eyes to the physical vulnerability of literally and metaphorically being naked with another. I love how the ending isn’t necessarily a happy ending nor a sad one; it’s a continuation. I respect Paul Thomas Anderson so much because he knows how to write a flawed individual. This was an exceptional watch.  P.S. I at first just thought this was just a good film, but for some reason, the theater scene towards the end just made everything click for me.