---
title: "The Master: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-master/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-master"
critics_score: 78
critics_reviews: 25
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Master (2012): what the critics said

Critics' score 78 from 25 reviews: 21 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to The Master, with praise concentrated on Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s tense, unpredictable relationship. Phoenix’s damaged drifter and Hoffman’s charismatic leader give the reviews their clearest point of agreement, while several also single out Amy Adams. Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction, the large-format cinematography, period detail and Jonny Greenwood’s score draw admiration. The film is widely read as a study of dependence, authority and human vulnerability rather than a direct exposé of Scientology.

The spread is broad, however, and agreement on the acting does not extend to the storytelling. Admirers find the ambiguity emotionally rewarding; others question the pacing, thin plot and loss of momentum towards the end. Film Comment welcomes the unresolved relationships and unconventional structure. Slant Magazine offers the sharpest dissent, finding little substance beneath the polished surface despite admiring the performances and score.

## Little White Lies — Adam Woodward

Rating 5/5/5. 2 November 2012. 

The Master is a confounding yet intoxicating spiritual post-war love story that restores faith in cinema through its technical perfection and emotional depth. The critic praises its oceanic resonance and the performances that explore trauma, obsession, and human connection.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-master)

## Time Out — Dave Calhoun

Rating 5/5. 3 September 2012. 

Anderson delivers a captivating, heady portrait of warped power and fanaticism with commanding performances and striking 65mm visuals. The critic highlights the intense, unpredictable chemistry between Phoenix's disturbed loner and Hoffman's charismatic leader.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-master)

## Film Comment — Kent Jones

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2012. 

The critic finds The Master a grandly scaled and rewardingly knotty film that resists easy condemnation of its Scientology-inspired subject, instead exploring irresolution between characters with bold, exciting structure and performances.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/the-master-paul-thomas-anderson-review/)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 September 2012. 

This is a superbly crafted, moody and disturbing film about personality, obsession and delusion. It mesmerizes through its intense connection between the two leads and Anderson's all-in visionary direction.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-sep-13-la-et-mn-the-master-20120914-story.html)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2012. 

Paul Thomas Anderson delivers a brilliant, mysterious and unbearably sad film about a drifter bonding with a cult leader in postwar America. The critic praises its formal distinction, powerful performances and exploration of personal and ideological dynamics.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/01/the-master-review)

## The New York Times — A.O. Scott

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 September 2012. 

The film is an imposing, confounding and altogether amazing work about the lure and folly of greatness. It comes close to being a great movie itself through its glorious and haunting symphony of color, emotion and sound.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/movies/review-the-master-from-paul-thomas-anderson.html)

## Empire — Damon Wise

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2012. Festival review. 

PTA's novelistic character drama focuses on the symbiotic tension between two men rather than any Scientology exposé, with a negligible plot that rewards revisiting for its impressionistic style. The critic highlights the terrific central performances by Phoenix and Hoffman and the luminous visual beauty of this poetic, lyrically shot post-war tale.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/master-review/)

## The Independent

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 4 November 2012. 

Anderson delivers an elusive, elliptical portrait of a damaged post-war drifter drawn into a charismatic cult leader's orbit. The critic singles out the powerful central performances, especially Phoenix's fractured anti-hero and Hoffman's magnetic guru, along with the film's haunting, non-linear exploration of American reintegration and performance.

[Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-master-paul-thomas-anderson-144-mins-15-8280351.html)

## Radio Times — Andrew Collins

Rating 4/5. 

Anderson creates another richly evoked American period drama driven by powerful lead performances, but it fails to fully take dramatic flight in the final act. The critic singles out the symbiotic mentor-pupil relationship between Phoenix and Hoffman as the film's vital core.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6x4l9s/the-master/)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2012. 

The Master is a polished, provocative and at times stirringly powerful work with lingering resonance, driven by impressive lead performances. The critic singles out the bold story of a lost soul finding solace in a charismatic cult leader and the strong supporting turn from Amy Adams.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-master/5045966.article)

## Evening Standard

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 March 2013. 

The film is a difficult, obscure power play between a feral alcoholic and a cult-like master reminiscent of L. Ron Hubbard that repays close attention despite its length and lack of conventional story. The critic praises the towering performances by Phoenix and Hoffman, Greenwood's compelling score, and the rich 65mm cinematography while noting its originality makes it hard to grasp on first viewing.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-master-cert-15-144-mins-review-8276756.html)

## Sight and Sound — Nick Pinkerton

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2012. 

The film is a divided work centered on two American archetypes whose relationship has a great movie inside it but ultimately falls short of greatness. The critic singles out Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Freddie Quell for its raw, erratic intensity as a study in damaged stasis.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-master)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2012. Festival review. 

The critic praises the extraordinary character study and career-defining performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but notes the film is perplexing and questions if it adds up to the sum of its brilliant parts. It is not a Scientology exposé.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/master-venice-review-367129/)

## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The film is a sustained immersion in hypnotic moods and longueurs that refuses to conform to expectations. It gives much to revere, especially its opening and recurring image of a ship's wake, despite some cavils about its pacing and composition.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/17/sail-away-2)

## Variety — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2012. Festival review. 

The film achieves a teasing, richly unsettling apotheosis in its story of a troubled veteran drawn to and repelled by a mysterious community resembling Scientology. It is a wry but not uncompassionate study of human vulnerability and suggestibility.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2012/film/markets-festivals/the-master-1117948152/)

## Vulture — David Edelstein

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The critic describes the film as a chilly, cerebral, and austere experience that explores fundamental American tensions like individualism versus gullibility but ultimately clarifies nothing and leaves the viewer brooding on confusion.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2012/09/edelstein-on-the-master.html)

## Slant Magazine — Calum Marsh

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The critic admires some minor gestures, the score, and the riveting performances but finds the film thin and disappointing overall, with Anderson's edges sanded off and a lack of substance beneath its cool aesthetic.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-master/)

## /Film — Russ Fischer

Rating 9/10. 20 September 2012. 

The critic finds the film mesmerizing and beautiful in its exploration of power, friendship, and faith through the relationship between Freddie and Dodd, despite occasional maddening moments. The review singles out the exquisite craftsmanship, performances, and genuine emotional core for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/522943/the-master-review-paul-thomas-andersons-inquisitive-maddening-vision-of-power-and-friendship/)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating 8.9/10. 8 September 2012. Festival review. 

The critic finds the film dense and challenging after one viewing but praises the hypnotic direction, performances by Phoenix, Hoffman, and Adams, and technical craft; respects it highly but needs more viewings to fully appreciate.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/the-master-review/)

## NME — Owen Nicholls

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2012. 

The critic calls it one of the year's best films, praising Phoenix's outstanding performance and the film's exploration of faith and manipulation, while noting it matches There Will Be Blood in ambition though it may be an acquired taste.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/the-master-the-years-finest-film-782559)

## Digital Spy — Simon Reynolds

Rating 4/5. 31 October 2012. 

The critic highlights the mesmerising performances by Hoffman and Phoenix in a bold drama about authority and delusion, with assured direction and hypnotic score, though it runs out of steam slightly by the end while still lingering in the mind.

[Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a434406/the-master-review-paul-thomas-anderson-directs-mesmerising-drama/)

## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2012. 

The critic praises Anderson's direction of an ambiguous, shifting tale about a troubled veteran drawn to a charismatic cult leader, focusing on their father-son dynamic rather than a direct critique of Scientology. The review singles out the film's messy, multi-layered structure and its parallels to cinema itself for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-master-2012-film-review-by-anton-bitel)

## The Skinny — Jamie Dunn

Rating 4/5. 29 October 2012. 

The critic admires the dead-on period detail, Jonny Greenwood's score, and especially Phoenix's self-loathing performance, along with the fascinating addition of Amy Adams' character in the master-servant dynamic.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-master)

## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie

Rating 3/5. 29 October 2012. 

The critic praises the brilliant acting, especially Phoenix and Hoffman, and strong technical elements, but finds the film less satisfying overall than Anderson's prior works like There Will Be Blood due to less compelling characters and subject matter.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-master-review/)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 13 September 2012. 

The critic finds the film impressive in its craftsmanship and visuals but strangely disengaged overall. They single out the 70mm cinematography and lead performances for praise while complaining that it lacks the emotional resonance and narrative sweep of Anderson's best work.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/master-review-about-scientology-or-not-emotionally-its-just-running-cruise-control-56266/)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-master.md