Yes, Master

‘I know you’re trying to calm me down, but just say something that’s true!” a resurrected Joaquin Phoenix exclaims in Paul Thomas Anderson’s period drama The Master, new in theaters this month.

Phoenix could be talking about the current state of American politics or the heart’s enduring desire for existential answers, but he is actually railing against a mercurial author and cult leader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and modeled loosely on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Reports suggest Anderson screened the 1950s-set drama for Tom Cruise, his friend and star of Magnolia, and that Cruise “had issues” with parts of the film, which means it has to be good. The Master arrives Sept. 21. Amy Adams and Laura Dern co-star. Rated R.