The Master

The Master is a drama about a World War II veteran struggling to find his place in a world he no longer knows. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) goes through several jobs, from being a photographer to picking cabbage. Each one of these jobs ends in disaster because of his drinking problem. One night he stumbles and hides on a yacht, and he is discovered by the owner, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who happens to be the leader of the "The Cause." Instead of throwing him off, the owner makes a deal with him that if he continues to make the strange brew, he can stay on. Freddie stays with the family, but his drinking and fighting worsens. The other family members are worried for Freddie. They ask him to stop drinking, but he does not. He continues to get into trouble and starts to question everything about The Cause and its teachings. Once he gets out of jail, the members want him to prove he is still for The Cause and not someone who is there to sabotage its teachings. He passes the tests. He travels with them to Arizona to further promote The Cause, when he feels the need to leave. He wants to continue a relationship with someone that cared for him when he was at war. His heart is broken when he finds out that she has married someone else and has her own life. Freddie is in a movie theater when he has a premonition of having to find Dodd, who happens to be in England. Freddie travels across the world, and while Dodd is relieved to see him, the others are not. Freddie has no intention of giving up his drinking or his fighting. The members convince Dodd to make a decision: either Freddie gives up everything or leaves. Freddie leaves.