One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another

Released September 26, 2025

Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

* No Spoilers - but some brief discussion about the premise and how the finale is shot *




One Battle After Another is a hard-hitting and timely action-thriller about revolution, family, sacrifice, and the moral decay of America. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza, There Will Be Blood) pulls no punches as he confronts racism, ICE raids, and the oppressiveness of a militarized police state. On many levels, this is deeply relevant, likely even more so than intended by its creators.

At its core, this is a father-daughter drama about a former revolutionary whose past catches up with him. The setting and context become a damning indictment of America’s institutional racism and anti-immigrant policies. The most striking example is a peaceful protest that turns violent only due to an outside agitator sent in by law enforcement. This and many other moments feel painfully relevant to the current political situation. Despite these heavy themes, One Battle After Another is full of light-hearted moments that never betray the message, in fact, the humour often enhances the film’s condemnation.

Aside from the overt political commentary, themes of justice, resistance, family, and morality shine through. Anderson explores what drives people to seek a better world, the costs of fighting back, and the capacity we have to commit great evil or selfless good, even for those we barely know. Most powerfully, the story highlights how communities can come together for others. The story is hopeful and touching but also honest in its portrayal of the overwhelming state forces the characters face. The efforts may feel futile, but they are necessary nonetheless. A character comments that even after 16 years the world has changed very little, yet the film’s message is not cynicism but determination.

Paul Thomas Anderson is a master director, injecting powerful imagery from the start and letting the setting itself tell the story. He leaves much of the film’s meaning to be derived by implication rather than by explicit philosophical monologues. It’s certainly heavy-handed but never feels preachy, simply showing and letting the audience draw the obvious conclusions.

The narrative is a constant cat-and-mouse game, full of paranoia, distrust, and tension. Characters rarely have a moment of peace, their actions driving toward an inevitable clash. The building tension is sinister, foreboding, kinetic, yet still fun. The story unfolds almost across five acts. Though quite long at 2 hours 45 minutes, its pace is break-neck. There’s plenty of momentum, but when we reach the conclusion of an act, things slow down appropriately, letting you absorb the events before jumping into the next. It does this so efficiently that each act presents a slightly different flavour, feeling, and thematic focus. There are many twists and turns that, although not predictable, are well set up, with foundations laid early and paid off to great effect later.

Anderson makes great use of visual storytelling with limited dialogue. Some scenes are extended montages where we’re simply experiencing a style of storytelling unique to cinema. On that same note, the editing is phenomenal. There are match-on-action cuts, like when the camera cuts to a door as a raid starts without showing the passage of time, leaving you concerned for the characters in that space moments earlier. Another striking edit shows scale: soldiers walking through what looks like a small detention centre inside a gym, then a cut, keeping the characters in the same position but revealing a vast sprawl of cages filled with people.

Though this is a plot-heavy story, it also favours its character arcs and development, especially for Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob and his daughter Willa, played by Chase Infiniti, both of whom deliver fantastic performances. DiCaprio plays Bob as a stoner dad in way over his head: messy, paranoid, rough around the edges, a bit of a slob. He is often completely inept and goofy, yet endearing at the same time. If you aren’t a fan of the typical “DiCaprio-isms,” you may not enjoy him here because the cracked-voice shrieks and quizzical squints he’s known for are here in droves. This is also a fantastic example of subtle de-aging without jarring CGI.

Chase Infiniti (Presumed Innocent) is incredible as Willa, bringing a passion and authenticity that’s unexpected from someone so new. Her character is competent but often put in precarious positions, and Infiniti balances that shifting fear and fire like a pro. Benicio Del Toro (The Phoenician Scheme) is great in a relatively short appearance, embodying a chill sensei that perfectly contrasts DiCaprio’s chaos. Regina Hall (Girls Trip) normally known for her comedic roles, shows incredible range for the dramatic, despite her limited role.

Tayana Taylor (Straw) as Perfidia is electric, exuding power and intensity in every scene. The performance is phenomenal but I felt that her character was far too interesting to not provide deeper insight into her motivations. Though not an inherent fault, the story is centered around Bob. The unfortunate consequence is how it leaves the perspective of it’s black and latino characters underdeveloped, relegating them to supporting characters. Although it speaks strongly toward liberation and justice for racialized groups, the depiction of it’s Black female characters, particularly Perdfidia, falls into a fetishization that feels more like an oversight than a deliberate and self-aware commentary.

Sean Penn (Flag Day) is the standout performance as the twisted Colonel Lockjaw. Penn sells Lockjaw’s twisted misogyny, racism, and perversion far too well. He’s a through-and-through villain with no redemptive qualities: pathetic and desperate, but it makes him all the more terrifying. His performance is so unhinged and disconcerting that it gets under your skin through movements and posture alone. Stiff-backed and rigid, he looks as if he’s got a constant stick up his backside. His vocal intonations and dialogue are highly disturbing and reprehensible, yet somehow worthy of pity as much as condemnation.

Brilliant on a technical level, this is a movie you ought to see in the cinema. The soundtrack features a pulsing and off-kilter piano over a relentless march-like procession of percussion. The music perfectly mirrors the emotional beats in a quirky yet effective way. The frantic piano tune, with it’s stamping drums, pull the audience into the chaotic but persistent drive of these characters.

The cinematography is equally remarkable and striking, making creative use of landscapes and tight spaces, especially in the night scenes. This all comes to a head in the phenomenal finale, which, for me, pushed the film beyond being a well-crafted movie with deeper themes to one with resonance, heart, poignancy, and power. The climax is as thrilling as it is moving, and also novel and interesting in its design. The car-chase sequence, with the camera running up and down a highway over rolling hills, is incredible. As the scene progresses, the camera pushes in tighter and tighter on the road, creating a sharp sense of paranoia and a roller-coaster-like climb of fear and concern. A masterclass in building anticipation and intensity. This same rolling build-up exists in the movie as a whole: from the heavy opening shot through to the cathartic comeuppance and well-earned connection between characters at the end.

Despite liking most of Paul Thomas Anderson’s work and the building buzz around this film, I was admittedly hesitant based on the trailers. However, this far exceeded my expectations, both technically and, more importantly, thematically. The narrative flows so well, and while the story is heavy, it remains palatable and light-hearted. This is charming, full of heart, and deeply entertaining, with performances that will surely receive praise during the Oscar season. The dynamic between Chase Infiniti and DiCaprio was fantastic, and their bond, along with the powerful father-daughter dynamic, hit hard on a personal level for me as well. One Battle After Another is great throughout but won me over by tying everything together at the finish line with its cathartic and tense conclusion.

9/10 – Powerful, poignant, and brilliantly crafted. I have little to dislike, though its length and overt political themes may not be palatable to every viewers. For some, the political themes may feel inconsistent, especially when they don’t carry through to how certain characters are treated. For me, this is a fantastic and original cinematic experience that balances action, comedy, social commentary, and heart. I was teetering between an 8.5 and a 9, but the stellar finale pushes this over the edge toward excellence.

*Seeing Leo on a couch watching the legendary 1966 revolution film, The Battle of Algiers, had me whistling and pointing at the screen like Leo in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Not a still from One Battle After Another - this is the often memed image of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the screen from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

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