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Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Lokesh Kanagaraj

Joseph Vijay

John Durairaj

Vijay Sethupathi

Malavika Mohanan

Chaarumathi Prasad

Andrea Jeremiah

Gouri Kishan

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‘salvable’: first look at toby kebbell & shia labeouf in boxing crime-drama; sales continuing in cannes, int’l critics line: anna smith on india’s hit action thriller ‘master’.

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After an impressive start at India’s box office, the Tamil-language film Master has hit Amazon Prime Video across the globe, and looks set to maintain the star power of leading actor Vijay . Two years after playing a charismatic soccer coach in Bigil , Vijay dances into the role of a charismatic professor in Master . He’s John Durairaj, aka “JD,” the Dean of Student Affairs at a prestigious college in Chennai. He’s so beloved that the students won’t turn up to events without him. And he’s so fond of a drink, that they frequently have to show up at his house and drag him there. It’s clear that Vijay’s faintly comical drunk act will give way to sobriety and a more serious plot line, but there’s plenty of song and dance to be had first, with an energetic score from Anirudh Ravichander.

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Director Lokesh Kanagaraj takes a typically leisurely approach while unfolding the narrative, which introduces the antagonist first, and in detail. Vijay Sethupathi plays it somber and straight as Bhavani, an orphan brutalized in a correctional facility who has become a powerful man and taken over the Lorry Driver’s Union. What sympathy we have for him evaporates as he’s revealed to be drugging kids and teens and co-opting them into his crime gang. Most of these come from the juvenile reform center in Nagercoil — a center that could really, guess what?, use a new Master. Preferably one with a moral compass as strong as his right hook.

Taking up the post, JD’s own path to redemption is far from smooth, with disturbing incidents creating higher stakes and inflaming his motive. These incidents also encourage much-needed emotional investment from the audience. But Master will still be most impactful for fans who already adore Vijay as much as the camera does, as it lingers on his dramatic entrances to each scene. While JD schools the pupils in “Personality Development,” his own character is, ironically, less developed than that of his arch enemy. There’s little to explain the devotion of hundreds of students, other than a cheeky wink and a willingness to roll up his sleeves and chase after the bad boys. In order to justify his alcoholism, he tells tall tales about his dark past, which — amusingly — are all based on plot lines from films. But when the real story is told, it’s brief and anti-climactic.

Female characters are sidelined, from Andrea Jeremiah’s PE teacher to Malavika Mohanan’s professor, but the boys in the penitentiary fare better. One, Unidiyal (Poovaiyar) has a particularly entertaining scene that reveals his intelligence as well as his backstory in one deft stroke. More of this precision would have been welcome in Master . But when the two Vijays line up for the final battle — one nimble footed and playful, the other grim and glaring — it’s easy to forgive and forget. Master may deliver its lessons with a heavy hand, but it’s got the charisma to see you through.

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Screen Rant

Master review: mariama diallo's debut feature is a striking horror film [sundance].

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Writer-director Mariama Diallo’s debut feature film, Master , sets out to explore the institutional racism in Ivy League universities. Centered on three Black women, a student, a dean, and a professor, the film explores the characters’ experiences navigating such a historic institution and how its unsavory history affects their lives and relationship dynamics. Diallo’s script doesn’t always work, especially as Master gears towards an ending that has a lot going on at once, but the everyday horrors add to the layers of unease that are built into every scene of the film. The combination of supernatural and real-life horror, as well as the cast's solid performances, elevate a film that isn’t so quick to provide answers.

Gail Bishop (an exceptional Regina Hall) is excited about her new position as Ancaster’s, a fictional university in New England, Master (aka, the Dean of students). As the first Black woman to assume the position, Gail is put in uncomfortable situations where her colleagues are casually racist. She shares these experiences with Liv (Amber Gray), a professor who is trying to get tenure despite her limited published work in the eyes of the counsel evaluating her. At the same time, freshman student Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee) is trying to acclimate to life on campus, unsettled by the story of a witch who haunts the very dorm room she’s in.

Related:  Alice Review: Keke Palmer Is Excellent In Messy, Underdeveloped Drama [Sundance]

Diallo knows how to create a deeply disconcerting atmosphere. While there are horror elements sprinkled throughout Master — a hooded figure who seemingly haunts the halls when the lights blink out or a bell ringing in Gail’s new home despite there being no one there — it’s the subtle racism the characters experience that make up the feelings of unease. Jasmine at a party with the predominantly white students loudly singing along to a rap song and brazenly saying the n-word; Gail trying to mingle with her colleagues while on the receiving end of comments comparing her to Barack Obama; the librarian checking Jasmine’s backpack to make sure she didn’t steal any books.

The list goes on and, although Master doesn’t fully capitalize on this buildup in the end, choosing to introduce another layer to Liv’s story in the final moments that feel rushed, Master deftly maneuvers through the characters’ experiences in a way that feels sinister. Even Jasmine’s experiences with Liv are layered, with implications of colorism and holding Jasmine to different standards that make everything all the harder for her to achieve the same success as her peers. Liv, who fails Jasmine’s essay on The Scarlet Letter , is much harder on her than she is on her white students. A revelation that comes later on could explain why that is, but Master maintains a sense of vagueness that will leave the audience pondering every interaction.

Diallo certainly knows how to create atmosphere and the film’s most terrifying moments aren’t even ones that happen in the darkness of night. Master examines how all the microaggressions affect the characters in their daily lives. Jasmine is an outsider not because she’s quiet, but because her classmates’ racism contributes to the feeling of her not belonging. At one point, Diallo intercuts the university's promotional video about diversity (which is so painful considering there really isn’t any at Ancaster) with an intense scene that is meant to drive a message home.

Ancaster, like any other historical institution that is made up of a white majority, can’t contend with its racist past and present because the students and faculty aren’t self-aware enough to understand the issue at all, nor do they seem keen on actively doing anything about it. This blatant ignorance harms Gail, Jasmine, and Liv, all of whom are trying to fit in and prove themselves in one way or another. Can the Ivy League school be changed from within? The film ponders this question, but the answer seems to come in Gail’s final decision, a pertinent scene in Master’s final moments that make for a contemplative finish.

However, there are aspects of the film that don’t feel fully formed. Liv’s backstory is revealed too late in the narrative to have a bigger impact. Master also struggles to balance all three characters at once, with Gail moving to the forefront only after a major shift in Jasmine’s story occurs. The chapters that split the film into different parts could’ve been dropped without losing anything. What’s more, the legend of the witch who haunts Ancaster’s campus ultimately falls flat because nothing really comes of it despite the mystery taking up a decent amount of the film. Despite these issues, Master is a solid debut by Diallo, who knows how to create a deep sense of discontent to elevate the story.

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Master had its premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on March 18. The film is 91 minutes long and is not yet rated.

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Horror/thriller addresses racism; violence, language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Movie explores institutional racism.

Movie centers on two Black women. One is an incomi

Movie centers on Black women trying to exist and t

Suicide by hanging. Talk of past suicides at the s

Talk of hooking up.

Strong language throughout. In one scene, White co

College students drink booze and smoke weed in the

Parents need to know that Master is a 2022 drama-horror in which two Black women -- an incoming freshman and an administrator -- contend with ghost stories and institutional racism. Characters commit suicide by hanging. Stories of past suicides attributed to ghostly legends that pervade in one of the oldest…

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Movie centers on two Black women. One is an incoming freshman attending a prestigious college that's almost entirely White, and she faces condescension, microaggressions, and outright racism. Another is an alumnus of the school, a professor, and is now starting as the first Black woman to be the master of a venerable house in the college. She also endures many instances of microaggressions and institutional racism.

Diverse Representations

Movie centers on Black women trying to exist and thrive in an overwhelmingly White space as the movie effectively shows the many insidious forms racism can take.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Suicide by hanging. Talk of past suicides at the school, by hanging and by jumping out of a window. Student found sexually assaulted in the nearby woods. Student has cut marks on her arms. Student is a victim of hate crimes -- "LEAVE" written on her door as a noose hangs from the doorknob, her picture on her dorm room door is defaced, a burning cross left in the grass in front of the building. Lead character, while drinking at a party, is coerced into kissing her roommate's boyfriend. Some gross shots of close-ups of maggots.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong language throughout. In one scene, White college students aggressively sing along to a song that often includes the "N" word. "N" word used once in conversation by Black woman. Also: "motherf--kin'," "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," "damn," "pissed," "hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

College students drink booze and smoke weed in their dorm rooms and at a party. Professors drink wine at a faculty/administration party. Song talks about mixing Adderall and wine.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Master is a 2022 drama-horror in which two Black women -- an incoming freshman and an administrator -- contend with ghost stories and institutional racism. Characters commit suicide by hanging. Stories of past suicides attributed to ghostly legends that pervade in one of the oldest and most prestigious (and overwhelmingly White) universities in the northeastern United States. In addition to the many microaggressions the lead characters face, the incoming freshman is soon the victim of hate crimes -- she comes home and finds a noose on her doorknob with the word "LEAVE" written across the door, her picture on the door is defaced, a burning cross is set aflame outside her dorm building. Lead character has cut marks on her arms. Strong language throughout, including the "N" word and "motherf--kin'," "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," "damn," "pissed," and "hell." At parties and in the dorm room, college students drink booze and smoke weed. Wine drinking at parties with college professors and administrators. It shouldn't take long for viewers to see that the real scares aren't the ones involving witch legends or even old houses in need of fumigation (some gross shots of close-ups of maggots discovered by one of the lead characters), but the scares concerning the long history and insidious forms of racism. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In MASTER, Jasmine (Zoe Renee) is an incoming Black freshman at Ancaster College, a prestigious centuries-old school in the northeastern United States. Upon arriving on a campus that's overwhelmingly White, she learns that her dorm room is the source of one of the school's mysterious legends. Meanwhile, Gail Bishop ( Regina Hall ) is starting her new position as Master of Belleville House, overseeing Jasmine's dorm, and the first Black woman to serve in this capacity. As Jasmine struggles to find her footing in this new environment, Gail, an alumnus of the school and longtime professor, voices her frustrations with an institution still mired in racism to her Black colleague Liv, who is applying for tenure at the school. While Jasmine learns from other students about the legend of a witch who has taken lives from the school, always at 3:33am, she also learns of what actually happened to the first Black student to attend Ancaster in the 1960s. Jasmine's struggles to fit in take a horrific turn when her dorm room is vandalized with racist graffiti and symbolism. As she tries to help Jasmine, Gail must confront some shocking truths about those around her as she struggles to accept what she has known all along about her colleagues and Ancaster

Is It Any Good?

This is an effective if not quite successful use of horror movie conventions to make an old New England university a symbol of institutional racism in the United States. It doesn't take long to realize that the scariest and most cringe-worthy moments in Master don't involve maggots infesting the dark corners of an old house or legends of murderous witches. Arguably the most horrific scene involves Jasmine, an incoming Black freshman in a school that we soon learn is about 99% White. She goes to a party, is subtly coerced into making out with her roommate's boyfriend, and then shortly after sees a group of White frat bros aggressively yelling along to the "N" words in a hip-hop song. The realness is what makes it as unpleasant as any horror movie scene with its oblivious racism and entitlement.

Therein lies the problem with Master . The head fakes of witchcraft and maggoty symbolism don't work, and one can't help but think that if they weren't there, there would be no need for Regina Hall's character to dispense with all subtlety by spelling it all out for everyone near the end of the movie. The hypocrisy and oblivious bad behavior of privilege, particularly in many institutions of higher learning, is enough, and any uses of The Scarlet Letter or the Puritans who still dress like Puritans in the village near the college come across as superfluous. It manages to hold on to the end, barely, but there's a lingering sense of the movie trying to cover too much ground in both story and subject matter, leaving some of these topics that are worthy of much more being handled in a hamfisted way.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how racism is shown and discussed in Master. How does the movie show overt racism as well as condescension and microaggression? Have you experienced or witnessed any of the moments shown in the movie, or something similar?

How does the movie use classic elements of horror movies to convey messages on racism? Does it work? Why or why not?

What are some of the other issues that the movie addresses?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : March 18, 2022
• Cast : Regina Hall , Zoe Renee , Amber Gray
• Director : Mariama Diallo
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Black directors, Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Amazon
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 98 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : Language and some drug use.
• Last updated : October 12, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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clock This article was published more than  2 years ago

‘Master’ is a horror movie in the shadow of ‘Get Out’: a metaphor for race in America

Regina Hall and Zoe Renee play two Black women on an overwhelmingly White college campus.

In “Master,” Regina Hall plays Gail Bishop, the newly appointed dean of students — or master — at a prestigious Massachusetts college called Ancaster. While Gail is moving into her new home, where the walls are covered with ivy, another initiation is occurring across campus, with the arrival of Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee), a newly arrived freshman who makes her way to the quad with a familiar mixture of confidence and wariness.

“We’ve got a live one,” an upperclassman chirps when she spies Jasmine, a line delivered with such cheerful malice that the viewer is immediately put on edge. There are moments in “Master,” which marks the promising if uneven feature debut of writer-director Mariama Diallo, when Gail and Jasmine’s parallel but common travails feel like they’re heading into territory already plumbed by such satires as “ Dear White People ” and the Netflix series “ The Chair .” Soon enough, it becomes clear that Diallo’s main reference is “ Get Out ” and other works of elevated horror that have sought to dramatize the displacement and psychic violence so often experienced by Black people navigating historically White spaces.

Those moments of discomfort range from humiliating microaggressions and lazy assumptions (Jasmine’s White roommate and her friends blithely throw her a rag to clean up a mess they made) to outright malevolence. One of “Master’s” most effective scenes features Jasmine at a frat party, dancing expressively to a joyful pop song, only to realize moments later that her White peers are chanting the N-word with gleeful abandon.

Meanwhile, Gail has entered her own crucible: Well-meaning colleagues compare her to former president Barack Obama, and when another woman of color is put up for tenure, she’s confronted with a stark reminder of who belongs at Ancaster and who doesn’t.

Of course, as one character says midway through “Master,” this isn’t about Ancaster. It’s about America. Although Diallo makes some trenchant observations about diversity-equity-inclusion initiatives and cultural appropriation (culminating in a clever third-act reveal), she jams too many plot beats, characters and polemical points into the narrative for all of them to pay off satisfactorily. Although “Master” involves a fair amount of magical realism and dream sequences, too it often lacks credibility. Would it really take Jasmine as long as it does to meet one of the only other Black students on campus?

“Master” is a deeply pessimistic movie, in which both Renee and Hall deliver quietly powerful portrayals of women who come to crucial realizations much too late — about isolation, identity and their own roles within structures and stories that were never created to support them. “Master” might be a horror film, but its scariest elements are off screen, in the form of the persistent social realities that inspired it.

R. At area theaters. Contains strong language and some drug use. 91 minutes.

Master Review: Vijay And Vijay Sethupathi Make A Winning Combination

Master review: with vijay and vijay sethupathi squaring off and kanagaraj orchestrating the duet to apportion equal importance to the two actors, the film tides over the bumps without turning turtle..

Master Review: Vijay And Vijay Sethupathi on a poster (courtesy actorvijaysethupathi )

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj

Cast: Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Arjun Das, Nassar, Andrea Jeremiah

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

A great deal of superfluity creeps into Vijay The Master (the title of the Hindi version of Lokesh Kanagaraj's Tamil-language Master , released theatrically) and contributes to a film that feels avoidably bloated in parts. It is often apparent that the screenplay by Kanagaraj, Rathna Kumar and Pon Parthiban could have done with some pruning.

But with Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi squaring off in a rousing thriller, and Kanagaraj orchestrating the duet with a sense of proportion that enables him to apportion equal importance to the two actors, the film tides over the bumps without turning turtle.

You know you are in pure Vijay territory when the action hero sends a hip-flask sliding across a Metro station platform to prevent a train door from slamming shut and saving the bad guys from his ire. You aren't supposed to nitpick over little things out here. Go with the flow.

Let the infectiously energetic Vijay croon a kutti (little) story (in a wonderfully choreographed jailhouse song) but Vijay The Master is anything but 'little'. Neither is the film masterly by any reckoning. This despite the sustained flamboyance that Kanagaraj, editor Philomin Raj and cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan lend to the project, which integrates easy-to-grasp popular storytelling codes with a vigorously stylish structure that can withstand the weight of an overheated drama.

Especially striking is the way in which Vijay The Master plays off the arc of the protagonist against that of the villain while skillfully intertwining them through the lively rhythm of the intercuts back and forth between the two divergent worlds that the duo represents.

In a crucial 'turning point' scene in the film, one of the two men says to the other: "I am telling you nothing new but do hear me out, I am waiting." One whole half of the film is left at this point and we do find ourselves in the mood to wait and see how the rest pans out.

Admittedly, Vijay The Master says nothing new, but it certainly is worth hearing out. It abounds his action sequences that bring out the mental and physical characteristics of the two men. Both have the habit of sniffing into the lapel of their shirt between blows, but no two men could be as dissimilar as the two. Vijay wears out his opponents (until he decides to turn his kada into a weapon of offence; Bhavani blows them away, literally, with the power of his iron fist.

JD Sir (Vijay), an alcoholic college professor admired by his students for his easygoing ways but disliked by the management for his wayward nature, is an idealistic, if seriously flawed, loner. There is a ritualistic quality to everything he does, beginning with the grand entry sequence that has Thalapathy Vijay swinging into 'action' on a bus and a Metro train to stop two aberrant sons of a wealthy man from flying away to Canada.

Master Review: Vijay And Vijay Sethupathi on a poster

Waking JD up from a drunken stupor takes a ritual of another kind and the students of the college that has placed him under suspension have to resort to musical means to stir the man back to life. It is not until well into the second half that the audience is allowed to learn why JD hit the bottle.

JD spins stories about aborted love affairs but they are all borrowed from films stored in his memory. He goes to the extent of trying to palm off Jack and Rose's affair from James Cameron's Titanic as his own love story.

Opposed to this noble, well-meaning drifter is the uber-evil Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi), who, like JD, is an orphan. At age 17 (the younger Bhavani is played by Mahendran), in Nagercoil, he witnesses his lorry driver father and his mother being burned alive by truck association rivals.

The ruthless Bhavani, who makes a living from the transport business, does not drink nor does he do drugs, but he runs a criminal empire that thrives on exploiting children at a government observation home through a network of accomplices within and outside the centre. Nobody in the observation home has ever seen Bhavani - he operates from the shadows.

Circumstances lead to JD taking over as the master of the drug-addled children. The job of reforming them is onerous. But we have a hero here who, in an allusion to his kabaddi player persona in Ghilli, uses the game to pummel Bhavani's men who have a free run of the home. One of Bhavani's key men is played Arjun Das, who was the antagonist in Kanagaraj's Kaithi ( Prisoner , 2019) - a fact that is referenced (in Hindi) in the line, " Hum toh hai awaara qaidi ."

JD and Bhavani interact only thrice in the course the film's three hours. The first conversation that they have is at the halfway point and it is entirely on a mobile phone that belongs to one of the baddie's henchmen. The second, too, ends before the two can see other's faces. Bhavani has his back to JD, who has a sharp object on the nape of the former's neck. The third face-off - now it is all-out war - is in the climax. It takes inordinately long to arrive, but it is a fitting finale to a classic, explosive clash between good and evil. What's more, it is punctuated with sly humour and rounded off with comments on the nature of politics and the kind of people that parties attract these days.

Because Vijay does not hog the entire limelight, it is possible for writer-director Kanagaraj to give the other Vijay in the cast full rein, which, in turn, enhances the quality of the build-up to the finale. With a villain (the man's fist are thanks to the blows that he rained on the wall of the observation home where he faced brutal torture on a daily basis as a teenager) primed to bring out the best - and the sternest - in the hero, the big climactic confrontation in an abattoir - one of Bhavani's businesses is meat export - is that much more impactful.

The film is littered with hat-tips to past productions starring Vijay himself and Kanagaraj's avowed idol Kamal Haasan. The latter's 1995 film, Nammavar , in which the Kamal played a righteous college professor, is one of the inspirations behind Vijay The Master .

In a back story that Nasser (in a special appearance) tells Charu, Selvam is mentioned as a professor JD met when he was at a loose end and benefitted from the association. Kamal Haasan's character in Nammavar was Prof. Selvam.

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There are a few women in the story - Vanitha (Andrea Jeremiah, in a blink-and-miss role of an archery champ), rookie professor Charulatha Prasad (Malavika Mohanan, who makes an impression and not only because she has a better-defined place in the larger scheme of things; she exudes charm and confidence) and Savitha (Gowri Kishan), a student who wins the college election against the campus toughie Bhargav (Shanthnu Bhagyaraj) in a rivalry that mutates into romance.

Vijay The Master is overlong all right, but Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi make a winning combination. Buoyed by a fantastic score by Anirudh Ravichander, here is a film that, for all its flaws, is keenly aware of the star power at its disposal and seldom punches below its weight.

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‘Master’ Ending, Explained: Breaking Down Regina Hall’s Confusing Thriller

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If you caught Master on Amazon Prime this week, you might have been left scratching your head.

Written and directed by Mariama Diallo, this thriller starring Regina Hall first premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in January, and was released on Amazon Prime Video last Friday. The film is an eerie thriller about just how scary racism in elite academia can be. The story follows three Black women at a majority-white university: an incoming freshman, an up-and-coming English professor, and the university’s first-ever Black master of students.

The film has received mixed reviews from critics so far. Despite the strong cast and relevant theme, the tone of the movie is unstable, and the lore of the college is confusing. If you were lost, you certainly weren’t alone.

But never fear, because Decider is here to help. Read on for the Master (2022) plot summary and the Master ending, explained.

WHAT IS THE REGINA HALL MOVIE MASTER ABOUT? MASTER PLOT SUMMARY:

Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) is a newly-appointed master of an elite college in New England called Ancaster, becoming the first Black master in the school’s history.  She moves into the master’s living quarters, which are highly creepy and haunted by the memory of Black servants who used to work there.

Meanwhile, a Black freshman student named Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee) moves into her dorm room with her white roommate Amelia (Talia Ryder). Their room, Room 302, is the same room that housed Ancaster’s first Black student, Louisa Weeks, who committed suicide in her dorm room in 1965. This is not to be confused with the legend of Margaret Millett, the so-called witch who—according to the sadistic upperclassmen trying to scare Jasmine— chooses a freshman every year to haunt until said freshman kills herself, at exactly 3:33.

Jasmine hangs out with Amelia and her friends, even though they are terrible to her, with microaggressions on top of microaggressions. She starts having nightmares and is just generally having a bad time. On top of that, Jasmine’s only Black professor, Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), gives her a bad grade on an assignment about race, and Jasmine believes she is targeting her on purpose. Jasmine files a dispute over the grade with Master Gail Bishop. At a committee meeting concerning Liv Beckman’s tenure, Gail—under pressure from her non-Black colleagues to assess the only Black professor “fairly”—mentions the grade dispute, and puts Liv’s tenure at risk.

Later, Jasmine discovers the word “LEAVE” carved into her door, and a noose hung on her doorknob. Master Bishop believes it to be a racist intimidation tactic. Jasmine’s nightmares start getting worse, and she wakes up with scratches on her neck. In the school archives, Jasmine finds the diary of the Black student who died in her room, and sees that she, too, was hearing strange noises at night and having bad dreams, which she believed was the witch haunting her. After an incident in the woods with some boys, Jasmine’s roommate Amelia leaves school.

Now completely isolated, Jasmine’s nightmares get worse. It’s hard to know what is real, and what is a nightmare—but the burning cross she finds on campus is real. When Liv’s tenure committee meeting goes awry, she goes off on the committee for allowing racist incidents to happen on campus.

Master Bishop sees the ghost of the Black servant who used to live in her house. Jasmine is scared by a cloaked figure on campus, and, when Master Bishop doesn’t respond to knocks on her door, Jasmine flees to her dorm and locks the door.  Someone is jiggling the handle, so Jasmine climbs out onto the building roof, slips, and falls, at exactly 3:33 a.m.

Jasmine wakes up in the hospital, with Master Bishop at her side, and tells Master Bishop the witch is haunting her, and that she doesn’t want to go back. Master Bishop tells Jasmine that she can’t quit. She says it is racism, not witches, that are haunting her, and she says Jasmine won’t be able to escape that anywhere. We never do find out who was jiggling Jasmine’s door.

WHAT IS THE MASTER ENDING EXPLAINED?

Taking Master Bishop’s words to heart, Jasmine goes back to school but is miserable. Master Bishop discovers Jasmine dead in her room, having hung herself.

Meanwhile, Liv’s tenure request is granted, and she tells Master Bishop she feels like she finally belongs somewhere. Liv lets slip she has a brother, and Master Bishop is surprised because Liv told her she was an only child. Liv replies that she doesn’t consider them her family anymore.

Master Bishop gets a phone call from an old white woman from the local Amish community, who Master Bishop has been suspicious of throughout the film. This white Amish woman, Esther, claims that Liv is her daughter and that Liv is a white woman pretending to be a Black woman. Esther shows Master Bishop a photo of Liv as a child and says that her father was white, too.

At a party for Liv’s tenure, Master Bishop accuses Liv of being a fraud and accuses the other professors of making themselves feel better about a Black student dying by giving a Black professor tenure. Gail realizes she is not the Master, but the maid, and that she failed Jasmine.

Liv tells Gail she is not a white woman, and that Esther raised her to believe that she would “go to Hell for being the bastard child of a Black man.” Liv insists that she told Gail the truth. Liv leaves the party by putting on her cloak—does this mean that she was the figure who scared Jasmine? The movie does not explain!

Gail leaves the party, and as she is walking home, she is approached by security and asked for her faculty ID. Gail tells the security officer that she doesn’t work at the school, and leaves the campus. With that, the movie ends.

It’s a tad convoluted, with questions left unanswered, but, the film seems to be saying there was never anything supernatural going on here—it was all the ghosts of racism past, present, and future.

Watch Master on Amazon Prime

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• Master (2022)
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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, a magnificent puzzlement.

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Paul Thomas Anderson 's "The Master" is fabulously well-acted and crafted, but when I reach for it, my hand closes on air. It has rich material and isn't clear what it thinks about it. It has two performances of Oscar caliber, but do they connect? Its title character is transparently inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, but it sidesteps any firm vision of the cult religion itself — or what it grew into

The Hubbard character, named Lancaster Dodd and played by Philip Seymour Hoffman , is indeed not even the film's most important. Top billing goes to an alcoholic adherent of The Master named Freddie Quell — played by Joaquin Phoenix , who in some ways seems to flow out of the bizarre persona he created during his meltdown, or whatever it was, two years ago.

This Freddie Quell has an unnatural and dangerous taste for booze in all forms. The film opens with him on board a U.S. Navy vessel in the Pacific just as World War II ends. As news of peace comes over the radio, he already has his plans made. He goes directly below deck and begins draining fuel from a torpedo. During the film, he will also create concoctions from paint thinner, coconut water, and something from a medicine cabinet — Lysol, perhaps. After he serves a potentially fatal cocktail to a migrant worker in a California cabbage field, he hastens to San Francisco and stows away on board a seafaring yacht.

This big boat belongs to Lancaster Dodd, introduced as a writer and apparently a rich one. (He later tells Quell: "I am a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist and a theoretical philosopher, but above all, I am a man, a hopelessly inquisitive man, just like you.") He is in the process of founding a group, movement, cult, whatever, named the Cause, and the ship is en route to New York via the Panama Canal. He has been joined on board by many followers who will join Dodd and his wife, Peggy ( Amy Adams ), to celebrate the marriage of their daughter.

When Dodd discovers Quell is on board, his response is not to send him ashore. He finds a strange fascination in this tortured man, who describes himself as an "able-bodied seaman" but seems far from able inside a hunched and fearful body. Dodd seizes upon him as a suitable case for treatment, and there is a mesmerizing scene in which the two lock eyes over a table in the captain's cabin, and Dodd hammers him with questions, repeated over and over again. This is described as "processing," similar to the "auditing" Hubbard described in his book Dianetics.

The film is unclear about Dodd's earlier history and never mentions the science fiction that Hubbard began writing. When we meet Dodd, he is middle-aged, jovial, not above singing jolly tunes and acting the cut-up at parties. In meetings with East Coast followers, especially Helen Sullivan ( Laura Dern ), we see that the Cause has already attracted many recruits — and doubters, including John More ( Christopher Evan Welch ), who stands coldly in a doorway at one meeting and fires hostile questions.

The qualifications or cost for joining the Cause are never made clear, but some kind of fearful discipline seems to be in use, and Freddie Quell is quick to pick fights with those who oppose the man who has given him affection and guidance (and likes the taste of his hooch). Quell drifts in and out of reality, imagining rooms where the women have suddenly become unclothed. When it comes to sex, he has a powerful imagination, which we observe in an early scene where shipmates make a sand sculpture of a naked woman, and he uses it like a love doll to masturbate. (Not recommended.)

All around the film's edges are possibilities that Anderson doesn't explore. What, exactly, does the Cause believe, with its talk of past lives and ingrained prenatal injuries? "He's making it all up as he goes along," says son Val ( Jesse Plemons ). But "The Master" is not an expose, not a historical record of the Cause, Scientology or any other group and not really the story of its characters, who remain enigmatic to the end.

Enigmatic, but far from boring. Phoenix projects a fearsome anxiety as his eyes scan a room; there are flashbacks/fantasies involving a pre-war girlfriend who continued to occupy space in his mind years after she married and had children. There's no sense drinking gives him any pleasure; it medicates something we can only imagine. Hoffman, as Lancaster Dodd, suggests the charisma that a character like Hubbard must have had, and although Scientology has reportedly staged a campaign against "The Master," the film is vague about the Cause.

Why are these two opposites so strongly attracted? You could guess homoeroticism, but there too the movie is vague. Is it that each senses an intriguing challenge to his idea of himself? Always somewhere in the frame is Dodd's wife, Peggy, sweet-faced, calm, never missing a thing, always calmly there when she's needed.

This is the first movie filmed in 65mm (and projected in 70mm, in select markets) since Kenneth Branagh's " Hamlet " (1996). It's a spectacular visual experience. You notice that in particular when Dodd mounts a motorcycle on a huge flat plain and roars into the distance. Then he returns, just as Vincent Gallo did in " The Brown Bunny ," although I doubt this is intended as a homage. "Now you do it," Dodd tells Quell. Quell roars off. Eventually Dodd and companions trudge off under the desert sun in search of him. Whether they find him, I won't say. What the motorcycle demonstrates, I can't say.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of our great directors. "The Master" shows invention and curiosity. It is often spellbinding. But what does it intend to communicate?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

The Master (2012)

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity and language

137 minutes

Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell

Laura Dern as Helen

Christopher Evan Welch as John

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd

Amy Adams as Peggy

Patty McCormack as Mildred

Written and directed by

• Paul Thomas Anderson

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Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Sabari 189 days ago

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this movie is a masterpiece that the movies I've watched. Lokesh Kanakaraju was the best director

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Superb movie ������<br/>Love u THALAPATHY VIJAY ANNA

pk 28 343 days ago

Extraordinary performance and it's super movie and it's all time blockbuster

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Home » Reviews » South Indian Movie Reviews

Master Movie Review: This Is The Vijay Universe & Thalapathy-Sethupathi Know How To Entertain You!

This a vijay gala and you must learn how to whistle before you enter the cinema hall..

Star Cast: Thalapathy Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Malvika Mohanan, Arjun Das, and ensemble

Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj

What’s Good: Two biggest Vijays coming together and putting their best foot forward. The distinctive swag of the two gets equal limelight and what more does a fan crave for?

What’s Bad: While Vijay (Thalapathy) gets the maximum screentime, we fail to connect to his past life, thus diluting the purpose. There is predictability too.

Loo Break: Maybe 1 when the film gets a bit too predictable and make it fast, you might just miss a ‘paisa vasool’ action sequence.

Watch or Not?: I would suggest watch it. It has been ages since we have seen a home-grown masala entertainer on the big screen, 10 months for me. You have to treat yourself. Also Thala dances in here, I gave you one more reason.

A college professor JD (Vijay) is posted to a correctional facility that is doomed by the bad man Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi). Events lead to JD knowing the grimy business run under the disguise of a reform home, and takes the reign to stop it.

Master Movie Review: Script Analysis

Lokesh Kanagaraj, one of the members of the new wave cinema, has chosen a story perfect to pull the audience back to the big screens. Though borderline staple, he unites masala with sensibility and gives it a perfect balance. Add two of the South cinema’s biggest stars, and Kanagaraj owns the best deal one could get.

In Master, he creates two different worlds, not just metaphorically but visually. Not that the storyline is something we haven’t really witnessed. What saves the day is the execution. To create an impact that stays with the audience, Kanagaraj first introduces his antagonist. A devil in human skin Bhavani, who has been a victim of torture in a foster home and makes that same thing his weapon. At the time when we as an audience and the people in the frame are confused who can save them, we meet JD. A professor or ‘master’ who has his way of schooling students. Thalapathy’s entry is a celebration in itself. About that later.

What does this do? First, it makes us root for the protagonist more than ever, since we have seen the monster of a human the antagonist is. Second, it gives both its characters the same footage regardless of the shade. Kanagaraj is clever when it comes to providing the two screen time. He keeps the track poles apart until the last cross over. A smart view when the weightage is high on both the sides.

There is action, emotion, dance and amazing dialogues, everything the respective fans of the two have signed up for. This a Vijay gala and you must learn how to whistle before you enter the cinema hall.

What Lokesh Kanagaraj’s writing does not do justice to is JD’s back story. He focuses too much on his college chronicles, that have too less an effect on the end product. There is no enough justification for why he is a drunkard, or what his real story is. The plot twist at times gets too predictable. A villain targeting near ones of the hero to break him is now done to death.

There is referencing to the hero’s past characters, and it adds a good layer. But there is also blatant messaging about addiction in a scene which gets preachy and drags you out of the complete experience.

Master Movie Review: Star Performance

This is a show of the Vijays and worth every single penny you spent for them. Both Sethupathi and Thalapathy are in the best zones. Starting with Thalapathy, he brings a breezy charm on screen. The way he dances, or punches the baddies, or even wipes his lips with the corner of his shirt, there is swag and an abundance of it. It is not new for a South hero to have all of the above, but Thalapathy for some reasons sells it with utmost skill here. His dance routines deserve an altogether different review. Is he giving classes?

What more can I say about Vijay Sethupathi that isn’t already said. The actor who definitely might have put a lot of effort in getting into the grey character, makes it look like a cake walk. His devil attitude, the gaze or just the movement of his hand reflect dominance and then he mouths those lines and you know why he is one of the greatest.

Talking about the supporting cast, Kanagaraj fails to write them as a whole. They are one tone people who don’t have anything other than the purpose they are introduced with. Shanthnu Bhagyaraj who I loved in Paava Kadhaigal recently, doesn’t really get much to do here. Not just him, the leading lady Malavika Mohanan also ends up being a vehicle to take the plot from one twist to another.

Arjun Das deserves a special mention here. In a nicely edged out part compared to others, he does justice to his role. Also a question if he reads this, is that voice for real? It is so powerful! I am looking out for an answer since Andhaghaaram.

Master Movie Review: Direction, Music

Lokesh Kanagaraj is a one man army here. As exciting the story looks on paper, he tried his best to translate it on the screen. With the help of cinematographer Sathyan Sooryan he manages to visually divide his story into two different worlds. One blue and breezy around JD, and painted in blood-red around Bhavani. In his direction, Kanagaraj does a good job at not going wide and obsessing over his set up.

Sooryan with his camera dances with Thalapathy Vijay and it is so much more fun. He also tries to put in his own metaphors, with the sunlight at one side and pitch dark tone in other. Music by Anirudh Ravichander is well conceptualised. He defines the shades with music. Watching mainstream Tamil superstar humming jazz music is unusual but not impossible, Anirudh proves that.

Master Movie Review: The Last Word

Master is not the best or most perfect, but it is a entertaining. It has the masala (and don’t interpret no-brainer when I say this). You will have to have a suspension of disbelief, but then once Vijays begin the action, they sell it in the package, just like the guy on the window gave me a mask with the ticket! Watch Master.

Master Trailer

Master releases on 13th January, 2020.

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Master Review: Lacks the Desired Effect

Movie: Master Rating: 2/5 Banner: XB Film Creators Cast: Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Andrea Jeremiah, Arjun Das, and others Music: Anirudh Ravichander Cinematography: Sathyan Sooryan Editor: Philomin Raj Action: Stunt Silva Art: Sathees Kumar Producers: Xavier Britto Written and Direction: Lokesh Kanagaraju Release Date: Jan 13, 2020

Tamil superstar Vijay and another talented Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi acted together for the first time for ‘Master’. This combination has generated expectations since its announcement. Plus, the film is helmed by ‘Khaidi’ fame Lokesh Kanagaraju.

Despite not releasing an official trailer, the film has managed to create hype in the Telugu states for this reason. Let’s find out its merits and demerits. 

Story: JD (Vijay), a drunkard professor conducts the student elections peacefully, teaching the students the importance of polls in a democratic system.

Hailed as a ‘master’, he gets transferred to an observation home for juvenile criminals in Warangal to set things right.

A shocking incident at this home makes him rid of his drinking habit and take on Bhavani (Vijay Sethupathi), who created a criminal empire by using these juvenile criminals for his heinous activities.

How JD handles Bhavani forms rest of the story. 

Artistes’ Performances: Vijay oozes style in every frame. In a righteous and a bit mysterious role, he has pulled it off well. Even at the end, his ‘flashback’ remains a mystery but he has convincingly played this part.

It is Vijay Sethupathi, who is known for spotless performance. He made yet another praiseworthy presence. He is excellent as the villain and a perfect foe to the superstar Vijay. His dialogues are peppered with sarcasm. 

Malavika Mohanan doesn’t get much screen time. She doesn’t get a chance to have a proper romantic track or full-length duet with Vijay. Arjun Das as Dasanna is effective.

Technical Excellence: Director Lokesh Kanagaraju is a solid technician, and he extracts, as was shown in his previous films, the best from the technicians. Sathyan Sooryan’s camerawork is splendid.

Anirudh Ravichander’s songs are not impactful, but his background score elevates the mood. He even provided signature music to both Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi.

The action sequences are a major highlight, and they are shot in a superior way. The film is too lengthy; editing could have been crisper. 

Highlights: Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi Certain action blocks

Drawback: College portions No emotional high Excessive fights Climax portions

Analysis Director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s previous film Karthi starrer ‘Khaidi’ won critical acclaim. It was entertaining and intelligently made.

Critics praised his writing and his different approach in narrating stories that focused on the content than the star image. Probably, this was the reason why superstar Vijay had agreed to work with him. 

He has begun the film in his style by introducing Vijay Sethupathi’s character, how he has turned into a shrewd and formidable rowdy in Warangal.

It takes nearly 15 minutes to bring Vijay’s character into the story. Until this time, Lokesh has played to his strength.

Once Vijay appears on the screen, and the story moves to a college drama, the director has lost his grip and balance. The entire stretch of college portions is shot in a lousy manner. The director has completely surrendered to the image of Vijay. 

Luckily, the story comes into the groove once the drama moves to a juvenile observation home with a perfect platform set for the face-off between Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi.

Post-interval, there are two interesting sequences – Vijay meeting Vijay Sethupathi in the most dramatic manner, and pre-climax scene. But, as the film progresses, we get the feeling that the director is trying to put one fight sequence after another to elevate Vijay’s mannerisms, stylish gestures, rather than telling a story.

Despite the action-packed second half, the film ends abruptly, without any high moment. ‘Master’ is entertaining in parts and strong performances from the two lead actors, but due to an unconvincing climax, the desired impact is not made in the end. 

On the whole, ‘Master’ is more of Vijay’s movie than a director’s film. It has style and swag but nothing else. 

Bottom-line: All Style, No Substance

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Tags: Master Master Movie Review Master Movie Rating Master Review Master Rating

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Mattel’s ‘Masters of the Universe’ Moves From Netflix to Amazon for Summer 2026 Release, Travis Knight to Direct

By Angelique Jackson

Angelique Jackson

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The long-awaited live-action “ Masters of the Universe ” movie is one step closer to becoming a reality, with Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films dating the project for worldwide theatrical release on June 5, 2026.

Travis Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings,” “Bumblebee”) is on board to direct the film adaptation of the popular franchise, with Chris Butler writing the screenplay, following initial drafts written by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner, Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing.

Popular on Variety

Casting on the project has yet to be announced, but news that “Masters of the Universe” is officially back on track is a welcome bulletin for fans of the popular Mattel franchise, which began in 1982 as a line of action figures, followed by the animated series “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” in 1983.

The Amazon MGM/Mattel-backed movie comes after a previous (and pricey) live-action adaptation was scrapped at Netflix, with the Nee brothers at the helm and Kyle Allen announced to star. In July 2023, Variety exclusively revealed Netflix was no longer moving forward after nearly $30 million had been spent on developing the project.

The project’s implosion at Netflix was just the latest false start for He-Man and friends, who’ve been journeying to the big screen since 2007, Variety’s Matt Donnelly wrote, explaining that “it’s a long road that’s crossed through two other studios, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, and countless writers and directors like Jon M. Chu and McG.”

He-Man and “Barbie” are just the tip of the iceberg for Mattel Films, which has built a robust slate based on the company’s dozens of children’s toys. Among the properties in active development are “Barney,” produced by Daniel Kaluuya; “Bob the Builder,” with Anthony Ramos starring and producing alongside Jennifer Lopez; “Polly Pocket,” written by Lena Dunham and starring Lily Collins; “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” starring Vin Diesel; an “American Girl” doll movie; a “Hot Wheels” movie produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot; and a Magic 8 Ball movie with Blumhouse.

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A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader. A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader. A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.

• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Joaquin Phoenix
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• 595 User reviews
• 512 Critic reviews
• 86 Metascore
• 75 wins & 187 nominations total

• Freddie Quell

• Lancaster Dodd

• V.A. Doctor
• Rorschach Doctor
• V.A. Doctor …
• V.A. Patient

• (as Patrick Biggs)
• Portrait Customer

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• Trivia During the jail cell scene, Joaquin Phoenix breaks a real toilet. His actions were entirely improvised. Due to the historical past of the building where the scene took place, the toilet was considered "historical." Joaquin had no intentions to break the toilet, nor did he think it was possible.
• Goofs In the "pacing" scene, as Quell goes from wooden paneled wall to window and back, the second time he goes to he wooden paneling, he breaks out a panel when he pounds it with rage. In the numerous successive shots, the wood panel is restored.

Lancaster Dodd : If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the history of the world.

• Crazy credits After its title, this film has no further opening credits.
• Connections Edited into Conspiracy: The Hollywood Syndicate (2015)
• Soundtracks Baton Sparks From '48 Reponses to Polymorphia' Written by Jonny Greenwood Performed by The Aukso Chamber Orchestra Courtesy of Unreliable Ltd.

User reviews 595

• Oct 7, 2012
• How long is The Master? Powered by Alexa
• What is the score at the start of the movie on the beach?
• September 21, 2012 (United States)
• United States
• Người Áp Chế
• Mare Island, Vallejo, California, USA (as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and various houses, a park and the docks)
• The Weinstein Company
• Ghoulardi Film Company
• Annapurna Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $32,000,000 (estimated)
• $16,377,274
• Sep 16, 2012
• $28,288,071

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 18 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• 70 mm 6-Track

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