For devotees of One Battle After Another director Paul Thomas Anderson, he is The Master. That’s also the title of one of Anderson’s finest movies, a mesmerising account of psychological manipulation.

Anderson’s sixth feature followed There Will Be Blood (2007), a story of ruthless ambition told through the relationship between a wealthy oil driller, his mute son, and a religious preacher. The brooding, sprawling epic contains some of the ideas that Anderson explored in a smaller scale in his seventh movie, The Master (2012) – the surrender of the self to a cult, the power dynamic between a mentor and his follower, and the anxieties of American manhood.

The Master can be rented from YouTube Movies. The film has a fine cast of actors led by two of the greatest representatives of the profession: Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Phoenix plays Freddie, a gaunt, unhinged precursor to his character in Joker. An alcoholic US Navy sailor, Freddie finds himself adrift after the end of World War II. Counselling doesn’t help. Freddie gets a job as a photographer, but the drinking takes over.

Alcohol barely slakes Freddie’s thirst for an anchor, any anchor. That is Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), the head of The Cause.

The Scientology-like cult claims to follow scientific principles and deploys the dubious-sounding “time travel hypnosis therapy” to treat troubled minds. Dodd tells Freddie he is “aberrated” – he has strayed from his path, and must submit himself to Dodd if he is to be reformed.

The film is not your garden-variety exploration of a quasi-religious cult. Set to Jonny Greenwood’s unsettling music, The Master doesn’t provide simplistic answers about mind control. Rather, Anderson looks at the battle of wills between Freddie and Dodd. The parasitic bond cuts both ways, with neither man willing to let go of the other.

Freddie proves to be a difficult adherent, while Dodd is not always the all-powerful, paternalistic guru he thinks he is. Dodd’s wife Peggy (Amy Adams) is an equal partner in his proselytising, encouraging as well as cautioning Dodd whenever she thinks he is losing sight of his goals.

The movie is filled with the intense close-ups and immersive compositions that are typical of Anderson’s films. The 137-minute drama is brilliantly served by its cast, especially Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Phoenix’s volatility and borderline psychosis are all the more frightening because it is so relatable. Hoffman has the gravitas and unnerving manner of a man who has understood human psychology better than others. The master himself is a believer – the masterful character study brings out this aspect memorably.

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