The Master

Is it or is it NOT about Scientology? It sure seems like it is. But more specifically it's about one guy, a war tarnished, sexually frustrated simpleton, played with balls and intensity by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls for the sci-fi sermons of a charismatic author. Impeccably directed, it imprints lasting scenes and images that dare to confront but never resolve the reasons why someone would join a cult. I found my mind drifting away during sequences that float separately from the plot, which intend to be symbolic or just cinematically pretty. But the one-on-one face offs between Phoenix and his life coach, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, are riveting. My mind also keeps going back to a scene on the beach, where Phoenix first hilariously assaults a woman-shaped sandcastle, but then lies next to it, longingly.