The Master (2012)

After WW2, a wandering veteran drifts into the company of a leader, who may or may not be a thinly veiled stand-in for L Ron Hubbard, and his following, who may or may not be a stand-in for the Scientology cult.

Gimmick: Not so much of a roman a clef than an allegory for the spiritual malaise and the search for conformity and certainty in America in the post-war era.

Watch for: A script that surprises, frustrates expectations; Joachim Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman in very opposite roles, with very opposite acting styles.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 23 January 2013.