The Master is a 2012 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. It tells the story of Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society who meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), a leader of a religious movement known as "The Cause," who sees something in Quell and accepts him into the movement. Freddie takes a liking to "The Cause" and begins traveling with Dodd along the East Coast to spread the teachings.
It was produced by Annapurna Pictures and Ghoulardi Film Company and distributed by The Weinstein Company. With a budget of $30 million, filming began in June 2011. Cinematography was provided by Mihai M?laimare, Jr., Jonny Greenwood composed the score, and Leslie Jones and Peter McNulty worked as editors. The film was partly inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but also used early drafts of There Will Be Blood, stories Jason Robards had told Anderson about his drinking days in the Navy during the war, and the life story of John Steinbeck. The Master was shot almost entirely on 65mm film stock, making it the first feature length fiction film to be shot and released in 70 mm since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet in 1996.