Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a drifting, troubled World War II veteran who falls under the spell of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic leader of a new philosophical movement called The Cause. Paul Thomas Anderson's hypnotic, endlessly debated masterpiece explores the human need for faith, father figures, and the intoxicating pull of belonging. Phoenix and Hoffman — alongside Amy Adams as Dodd's fiercely protective wife — give three of the finest screen performances in recent American cinema.