PTA: The Master
September 19 - 23, 2025
The Modern Mastery of Paul Thomas Anderson
Joaquin Phoenix as WWII vet Freddie Quell falls into the orbit of Philip Seymour Hoffman's self-styled prophet Lancaster Dodd in this tremulous 1950s psychodrama.
The war and booze-scarred sailor Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) meets charismatic guru Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) whose Cause attracts the solicitous Quell. The setup offers a rich canvas to examine the evolution of this relationship and is the film’s dramatic axis, made superb by the electrically intense but nuanced on-screen interplay between the seemingly forgotten Phoenix and perennially superlative Hoffman, leaving audiences percolating with intensity. Director Paul Thomas Anderson examines the interdependencies among followers of a charismatic cult guru in a nostalgia-filled and critical work about the ambivalence straining American society in the post World War II years.
- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Principal Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, Jesse Plemons
- Country: USA
- Year: 2012
- Running Time: 137 min.
- Producer: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison
- Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson
- Cinematographers: Mihai Malaimare Jr.
- Editors: Leslie Jones, Peter McNulty
- Music: Jonny Greenwood
- Filmography: There Will Be Blood (2007), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Magnolia (1999), Boogie Nights (1997), Hard Eight (1996)
- Language: English
- Rating: R
- US Distributor: Lionsgate