On the Sept. 26, One Battle After Another was released, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson– most known for works such as the epic Magnolia, the brutal There Will Be Blood, the gorgeous Phantom Thread, and most recently– the episodic Licorice Pizza. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio in his biyearly role– the last being in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon in 2023. Alongside DiCaprio features Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti in her feature debut.
The film follows a group of revolutionaries– lead by Pat Calhoun (DiCaprio) and his African-American love interest Perfidia Beverly Hills (Taylor), as they rebel against authority. During an attack, Beverly Hills kidnaps Steven J. Lockjaw (Penn), a relentless but also insecure white supremacist sergeant who falls in love with her fierceness. She is eventually captured, and Lockjaw gives Hills the opportunity to give up her group, which she does, except for Calhoun, who changes his name to Bob Ferguson and hides away with his daughter. Sixteen years later, Lockjaw comes back for Ferguson, spending the duration of the movie hunting him down.
I feel it differs from Anderson’s previous films, each of which captures an incredibly specific atmosphere — such as Phantom Thread, a filmic embodiment of a painting that is royal and gorgeous in every frame, or There Will Be Blood, which is consistently dark, savage, and repulsive. However, with One Battle After Another, there’s a different mood for every scene, like a kaleidoscope; at some points, it’s comedic, at others, it’s relentless.
“There was this absurd tone throughout the movie,” said Jim DiDomenico, English teacher. “The level of absurdity that Sean Penn is playing that character, it’s like, this has got to be a joke. But I liked that ridiculous absurdity. It matched, in some ways, just how inflammatory so much has become in America today. It’s hard for the world to make sense right now.”
For the most part, the film serves as both a warning and a glimmer of hope for the future of America. I’ve seen it compared to Eddington, another 2025 film that explores political division in a New Mexico town during the COVID pandemic– a film that predicts only bleakness for the country.
But One Battle After Another feels different. Rather than dwelling in despair, it offers something more complex. Each character, especially Perfidia, is defined by rebellion– not just against authority, but against societal expectations like marriage and motherhood, against her own group, and even against the audience’s expectations. Her arc is tragic: she is ultimately stripped of her ability to rebel, and she betrays her team. It begins to feel as though the film is suggesting that even the most committed rebels are destined to fail, that their time will inevitably come. Even DiCaprio’s character, portrayed as a robe-wearing stoner wandering in sandals, seems to mock the idea of serious resistance.
While the film acknowledges its bleak themes, it contrasts them with a sense of hope– the idea that the next generation will pick up where the previous one left off. Bob Ferguson’s daughter is portrayed as a child who, despite having no knowledge of her parents’ protests against authority, instinctively stands up for her beliefs. In the final scene, she is shown leaving for a protest, symbolizing the continuity of resistance. So, even if it feels like the world is falling apart and nothing can be done, One Battle After Another reassures us that the fight will continue– carried forward by those who come next.
“It seemed like the younger people in the movie we were supposed to root for definitely seemed to be people who were doing the service of the movie to bring about the end of the villains,” DiDomenico said. “Obviously, DiCaprio’s daughter is killing a bunch of main guys at the end, and then Benicio Del Toro’s group of family members that are young, like his nephews, are consistently trying to help.”
DiDomenico said it’s a film that will leave you pondering its themes and purpose for a while after viewing it.
“I felt like something like Phantom Thread was such a small character study and not dealing with such large, relevant themes,” DiDomenico said. “I understood Phantom Thread better than this one. This one’s juggling a ton of ideas, and I’m not fully formed yet on what exactly those ideas are. But I liked watching it. The sound, the acting, Jonny Greenwood’s score, it was an interesting time, for sure.”
Overall, while I don’t think it’s Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus, as some are saying. However, I did enjoy the film. I prefer some of his more focused works, such as Phantom Thread, because I find it easier to latch onto the atmosphere that film creates, which is something One Battle After Another doesn’t quite achieve. However, it is the most important film in his filmography. I greatly respect the commentary it offers, and reflecting on it gives me a slight sense of hope for the future.
8/10
