Scientology-Like Movie “The Master” Gets a Second, Mysterious Trailer to Decipher

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” now has a second official trailer. It plays at the bottom of the home page here in our video player. For the first time we see Philip Seymour Hoffman as the L. Ron Hubbard character, describing himself to acolyte Joaquin Phoenix as a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist, a theoretical philosopher. But above all, I am a man. A hopelessly inquisitive man, like you.” The music is creepy, the movie looks a little scary and portentous. Hoffman’s character is already trying to pry into Phoenix’s psyche. These are little pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. What they’re going to add up to could be anything, but it’s going to be intense, that’s for sure. We’re watching a L. Ron Hubbard, or someone like him, develop a belief system that will become a cult.