The Master(2012)

Pooper:
Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix) leaves “The Cause” only to find that the young girl, Doris (Madison Beaty), whom he was infatuated with after he left the Navy, has married and moved on with her life.

Freddie then travels to England where The Master (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) has now re-located. When The Master tells Freddie he must devote his life to “The Cause” or leave forever, Freddie leaves. Freddie then picks up a girl in a pub and has pleasant sex with her.

The last shot is a flashback to Freddie lying next to a sand sculpture of a naked woman that he had simulated having sex with early in the film.

Long Version:
Freddie Quell is an alcoholic, violent, drifter who left the Navy after WWII and has failed to fit back into society. When he stumbles aboard a boat full of revelers, he meets The Master, a charismatic figure who subjects his followers to elaborate exercises known as “Processing” in order to resolve their emotional issues. The Master invites Freddie to join his group because he likes the homemade rotgut that Freddie can distill.

The Master grills Freddie psychologically and Freddie becomes part of “The Cause”, a pseudo-spiritual movement where the followers believe in a mixture of past-life regression, Freudian psychology and cult-like indoctrination to The Master’s view of the Universe.

Freddie becomes emotionally attached to The Master, but still acts out violently by assaulting anyone who directly criticizes or threatens The Master. We also see that The Master himself may be a charlatan by the attitude of his son and the private conversations between The Master and his wife (a creepy Amy Adams).

Slowly and tortuously, Freddie begins to heal. During an exercise in the desert where Freddie is supposed to ride a motorcycle to a distant object, Freddie rides away.

Freddie travels to find that the young girl, Doris, whom he was infatuated with after he left the Navy, has married and moved on with her life.

Freddie then travels to England where The Master has now relocated. When The Master tells Freddie he must devote his life to “The Cause” or leave forever, Freddie leaves. Freddie then picks up a girl in a pub and has pleasant sex with her.

The last shot is a flashback to Freddie lying next to a sand sculpture of a naked women he had simulated having sex with early in the film.

We are left to our own judgment as to whether Freddie has actually been healed by The Master…