New Trailer for The Master Shows Philip Seymour Hoffman at His Brainwash-iest

The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson’s forthcoming take on an L. Ron Hubbard–esque religious leader and his wayward disciple, continues its campaign to slow-roll us into complete and utter submission. First there were the juicy rumors about the secretive project, which PTA and his cohorts seemed to almost cheekily deny was about Scientology. Then there was the first footage from the flick, featuring a diabolically tweaking Joaquin Phoenix, back in a real role for the first time since he was still here. And now here comes a new trailer finally revealing Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Hubbard surrogate in all of his creepy glory. We get a bit of chatter between Hoffman and Phoenix, right as the poor lad seems to be getting unwittingly roped into the mind games of the mustachioed man who describes himself as “a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist, a theoretical philosopher.” It almost makes you want to reach out and grab good ol’ slack-faced Joaquin, shake him around the shoulders a bit, and shout at him to run far, far away. But then there wouldn’t be a movie (and also, that’d be impossible to do because he’s a fictional character). Anyway, this drops October 12. Prepare yourself accordingly.

Filed Under: Dianetical Exegesis, Joaquin Phoenix, Paul Thomas anderson, The Master

Amos Barshad has written for New York Magazine, Spin, GQ, XXL, and the Arkansas Times. He is a staff writer for Grantland.

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