The Master (in theaters Friday)

“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 Phillip Seymour Hoffman and modeled loosely on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Set in the 1950s, Phoenix stars as a military vet-turned-drifter taken in by the charismatic radical who launches his own religious movement. Reports suggest Anderson screened an early cut of the film for Tom Cruise, his friend and star of Magnolia, and that Cruise “had issues” with parts of the film, which means it’s got to be good.

The Master co-stars Amy Adams and Laura Dern. Rated R.

Watch the trailer below: