12 Movies That Aren't As Pretentious As You Think

2. The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of those filmmakers that people who call themselves "cineastes" absolutely adore, while more mainstream-minded viewers probably haven't even seen a single one of his movies.

P.T.A.'s directing style is undeniably character-focused at the expense of plot, often favouring intense, prolonged dialogues over any sort of traditional narrative trajectory.

That's certainly the case in his 2012 drama The Master, a film so rigidly anti-plot it makes his recent movie Phantom Thread seem like an energetic blockbuster by comparison.

But to say that "nothing happens", as so many have over the years, is to completely ignore Anderson's absorbing attention to characters, especially protagonist Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and supporting characters Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his wife Peggy (Amy Adams).

As a character and acting showcase, The Master easily sustains all the way up to its enigmatic ending, even if it's pretty much tailor-made to be divisive. That doesn't mean Anderson's trying to over-inflate the public perception of his movie, though - everything you need to know is in the performances.