One Battle After Another Review: Oh Yeah! Alright!
Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio have become two of the giants of Hollywood in the 21st century, honing early promise shown in the late 90s into critically acclaimed careers as directors and actors, respectively. Up to this point, they had never worked together, so One Battle After Another is a big deal. It may very well be the most provocative and strident film of both their careers and is in the running for the best film of the year.
The film is centered on a father and daughter, Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Willa (Chase Infiniti). In a previous life, which we see in an extended prologue, Bob was Pat Calhoun, an explosives expert for a group of radical activists/far-left revolutionaries/domestic terrorists known as the French 75. Willa’s mother is Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), one of the most militant members of the group.
Their activities get them on the radar of a military officer named Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), and he makes it his life mission to take down the French 75. When things go south, their paths diverge, and Pat/Bob finds himself raising Willa on his own, starting a new life in the fictional sanctuary city of Baktan Cross. Sixteen years later, Col. Lockjaw returns to their life, putting Bob and Willa on the run.
The extended prologue is rooted firmly in the present-day conflict surrounding immigration in the United States. The French 75 perform a liberation of a California detention center. From there, their actions escalate to more explosive and bloody outcomes, claiming that voting, politics, and working within the system have not gotten the necessary results. It’s an opening intended to provoke. The French 75 feels like an organization transported from the ‘60s or ‘70s into the present day.
The world in which the French 75 exists and the one the movie jumps ahead into feel like the same present day; in fact, Anderson almost explains it away with a female voiceover saying, “Sixteen years later, the world had changed very little,” which is its own kind of commentary about the intractability of the current state of the world.
As Pat, Bob is the explosives expert, but also somewhat aimless concerning the cause, even if he firmly believes in it. He is not given the whole picture, merely told to make a show of explosions and fireworks to draw attention. In a brief, quiet moment with Perfidia’s mom, he is considered unsuitable for his daughter; Perfidia is a runner, while Pat is a stump.
As Bob, he is in borderline Lebowski mode, smoking and drinking to cope with the quiet suburban existence while living as much off the grid as possible. He is not anyone’s idea of a revolutionary. When he first goes on the run, he is given a packet of information for his new life and identity. Sixteen years later, though, he’s smoked and drank himself to the point that he can’t remember most of the coded language he needs when the resistance comes calling again. There is a rooftop scene where Bob is fleeing to a waiting vehicle with three younger men who are on skateboards. Their effortlessness, Bob’s struggle to keep up, and the outcome of the rooftop scene are evidence that revolution is not a middle-aged man’s game.
Newcomer Chase Infiniti is a revelation as Willa. Growing up without a mother and having to babysit her father as much as he would have babysat her for the last sixteen years, Willa is tough and responsible beyond her years. The tagline for the film is “Some search for battle. Others are born into it.” Willa is very clearly the one born into it, and the movie is a baptism by fire for her. She is aided by Deandra (the wonderful Regina Hall), a former member of the French 75 who comes to Baktan Cross to help get her to safety.
As Willa has her helper in the form of DeAndra, Bob gets the aid of one of the community leaders in the sanctuary city, Baktan Cross, Sensei Sergio (Benicio del Toro). Sensei Sergio is a breath of fresh air in the movie, a man who starkly contrasts to characters like the uptight Lockjaw, but also hilariously contrasts with Bob's panicked demeanor.
Even while Lockjaw brings the full weight of military authority that he has onto Baktan Cross in search of Bob and Willa, and Bob, in turn, brings that to the Sensei’s front door, del Toro moves at his own pace as the world is going up in flames around him. He is a Sensei in the truest sense of the world, instilling confidence (“Courage, Bob.”) and calm (“Ocean waves. Ocean waves.”) when necessary.
Certainly not to be left out, though, is Sean Penn’s unforgettable performance as Lockjaw. Lockjaw is a patently absurd and on-the-nose name, undermining the self-seriousness of the character. Penn’s physical performance is incredible and funny; he is in ridiculously good shape for the role, and Lockjaw is perhaps the most physically rigid character ever depicted on screen. And the way he walks, it’s like he is constantly clenching his butt cheeks together. It’s a brilliant physical performance.
Without giving away too much, Lockjaw is pursued by a shadowy white supremacist organization with an absurd name and absurd rituals. The organization is meant to, rightly, mock secret societies, but also organizations like the Proud Boys or Bugaloo Boys, who have silly-sounding names but are also deadly serious about their cause.
Lockjaw’s past, which ties back to the extended prologue and the French 75, puts him onto Bob and Willa to erase any potential skeletons in his closet. Lockjaw is a great villain because he abuses his power and authority, deploying men under his command to pursue personal ends with the fig leaf of justification and to cover up what he perceives as personal weaknesses. I see an Oscar in Penn’s near future for this impressive performance.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the intense performance that Teyana Taylor brings to this movie, primarily in just the prologue. It’s a nuanced and complicated character who struggles to balance being a revolutionary with being in a relationship and finds being a mother ill-fitting. It’s a character with a lot of false bravado, bravado that gets exposed for what it is, pretending to be tough but not being honest and authentic, and suffering the consequences of that.
Sometimes a movie can feel like two or three movies jammed together into one Frankenstein’s monster of a movie; Anderson manages to create a movie that feels like two or three movies, but puts them together seamlessly and flows effortlessly. One Battle After Another is a rollercoaster of a movie, starting as a tense revolutionary thriller, transitioning into a chase movie with more comedic elements, and turning back into a pulse-pounding thriller again at the end, yet completely different than the beginning. Aspects of the final act almost feel like a rollercoaster, too, as a tense car chase through undulating desert roads is beautifully captured using 35MM and VistaVision.
There is a little bit of everything in this combustible film concoction. There are nuns who swear and grow weed at a convent that feel like they were pulled out of a Quentin Tarantino movie. The secret cabal that is interested in Lockjaw joining their ranks. The propulsive score of frequent PTA collaborator Johnny Greenwood. It is a movie that clocks in at over two and a half hours and throws as much in there as possible. When the credits start rolling and “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers starts playing, it embodies the exhilaration of the previous 162 minutes.
Not many movies are made like One Battle After Another anymore. It’s a rare grown-up, adult movie that is not a tentpole yet still managed to get studio backing to around $140 million or more. But only a handful of directors could make a movie like this these days and have it feel deserving of the big screen.
I’ve avoided reading too much about PTA’s or Leo’s thoughts on the movie's politics, but for how provocative it is, it ends on a note of hope for the future. It may not be the defining movie of Leonardo DiCaprio’s or Paul Thomas Anderson’s careers. Still, it does feel like they are at the peak of their powers, like the star athlete who has put it all together and has no more flaws or weaknesses in his game.
One Battle After Another is neck and neck with Sinners for the best movie I have seen in 2025. My heart says Sinners, my mind says One Battle After Another. Regardless, it’s an unforgettable entry into the filmography of two Hollywood titans. This is one of the handful of movies that will be discussed in future years when the movies of 2025 are discussed.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars