ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025) review
written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
produced by: Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner, and Sara Murphy
directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
rated: R (for pervasive language, violence, sexual content, and drug use)
runtime: 162 min.
U.S. release date: September 26, 2025
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, “One Battle After Another,” may hit a little too close to home, especially for those who look to movies to escape the weight of reality. Indeed, watching a story that features an America that’s numbed by its own racism, bigotry, and hatred may be a frustrating viewing experience, one that can leave you more irritated than impressed. Not because you’ve just watched a story that holds a mirror up to our current situation, but because the writer/director is reminding us that what he’s showing could take place in America’s past, present, or future.
Some may consider it an “epic action thriller”, and maybe that’s due to its almost three-hour length and the fact that, well, there’s action in it. While there’s definitely a forward momentum from the start, what’s happening in “One Battle After Another” doesn’t rely on violence for its moments of absolutely riveting intensity. There’s clever satire that is delivered with spot-on wit and humor, thanks to an excellent screenplay and a tremendous cast. However, there’s also a through line of resistance and ridicule pointed at those in power and others who blindly follow, and that’s something we need right now.
The movie opens in a scenario that unfolds at the U.S.-Mexican border, set in a modern-day Southwest landscape. An organized, underground ragtag group is assembling there, and we will come to know them as French 75 (think the Weather Underground), a group of determined, armed revolutionaries. They’re dedicated to exposing injustices and helping the needy, while also engaging in criminal activity when necessary.
All of the French 75 members have chosen code names to protect their identities and have been assigned specific tasks. There’s the stoic and loyal Deandra (Regina Hall), mad scientist Howard Sommerville, aka “Billy Goat,” aka “Gringo Coyote” (Paul Grimstad), Mae West (Alana Haim), Laredo (Wood Harris), and Junglepussy (Shayna McHayle), all led by Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor, an absolute standout) and accompanied by “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio), who’s in charge of munitions designed to distract authorities while the others do their thing. Their goal is to infiltrate an immigrant holding facility, liberate anyone awaiting processing, and zip-tie any officers.
Perfidia, a wild force to be reckoned with, takes the raid a step further, targeting the one in charge of the facility. She tracks down Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) and winds up sexually humiliating the racist monster. This results in his psychosexual obsession with Perfidia and fantasizing about her sexually controlling him. Like Pepé Le Pew chasing a pheromone scent, Lockjaw follows her activity under the guise of devoting himself to shutting down the group’s activities. “Ghetto” Pat, who’s in a relationship with Perfidia, changes his priorities once she becomes pregnant with his child. He’s compelled to focus on their family after their daughter, Charlene, is born. But, Perfidia won’t be tied down and continues to participate in the radical ways of the French 75.
When we catch up to “Ghetto” Pat, he is now Bob Ferguson, a paranoid and self-professed “drugs and alcohol lover”, who’s been single-parenting it for the last sixteen years. Charlene now goes by Willa (an absolutely fantastic Chase Infiniti), the only name she’s ever known, and is under the tutelage of self-defense sensei Sergio St. Carlos (an amusingly zen Benicio del Toro), a leader of the immigrant community in Baktan Cross.
In contrast, Bob spends most of his time in a state of baked relaxation, often lounging in a bathrobe, watching “The Battle of Algiers” on his couch. He has loose affiliations with the French 75, but he’s basically useless now. As much as Willa tries to be an average teenager, the overprotective Bob has raised her with a particular alert system (a uniquely made scanner device) they share in case they are ever tracked down. Unfortunately, his preparation for the worst-case scenario plays out one night when Willa goes off to a high school dance.
It just so happens that the cheek-sucking Lockjaw still has a hard-on for Perfidia after all these years, and with her in the wind, his focus has turned to finding Bob and Willa. He does this by systematically shaking down other French 75 members, with the assistance of indigenous bounty hunter Avanti (Eric Schweig), and eventually learning of the elusive father-daughter’s location. Before Lockjaw and his mercenaries, once again using his power to fuel his ulterior motives, can descend upon Baktan Cross. Deandra manages to track down Willa and escorts her to safety from the high school dance, finding refuge in a convent in the hills run by Sisters of the Brave Beaver.
Lockjaw has his own amusing sideplot involving a group of Santa-worshipping white supremacists called the Christmas Adventurers Club, for which he would love to be considered for membership. He has been interviewed by Virgil Throckmorton (Tony Goldwyn), during which he’s asked a series of very specific, albeit racist questions, where Lockjaw lies about never having interracial relations. We learn more about the Illuminati during an underground meeting, where Virgil discusses Lockjaw’s future with other white men, Sandy Irvine (Jim Downey), and Roy More (Kevin Tighe). They call upon another member, Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker), to attend to matters.
When a concerned Bob learns that Lockjaw is back in the picture and trying to apprehend Willa, he scrambles back into the fray. If only he could remember the secret passwords that he must relay over telephone lines to other members of the revolution. Much of the screenplay’s humor comes from watching DiCaprio’s middle-aged Bob (who runs around like The Dude from “The Big Lebowski”) desperately trying to shake off his purple haze and handle time-sensitive situations. He pulls Sensei Sergio into the mix, who is honored to serve a “hero of the revolution”, adding a calm coolness to Bob’s “high” anxiety. DiCaprio and del Toro make a hilarious pair that deserves their own short side quest. The story culminates in an inevitable cat-and-mouse pursuit in the desert hills, as Bob frantically tries to reunite with Willa, knowing he’ll likely have to confront Lockjaw head-on.
“One Battle After Another” is populated by characters with a dogged forward momentum, even if they have to shake off a haze of addiction to see the fight they still have in them. In some ways, the film bears a resemblance to Anderson’s previous films. The filmmaker has shown a tendency to follow desperate and determined characters as they navigate through obstacles (both internal and external) that prevent them from achieving their goals. The story here is loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, set in California circa 1984, during Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign, as U.S. society transitions from the spirited rebellion of the 1960s to the War on Drugs of the 1980s. It’s not the first time Anderson has adapted Pynchon’s work, but this one offers a more accessible viewing experience than his “Inherent Vice” back in 2014.
No doubt, Anderson is pulling from reality to inspire the mayhem of the feature, including riot scenes (and those who incite them) and abuses of power. The only real political angle to the material is that it’s a combative world full of injustice and response, both of which result in cyclical behavior and actions. That being said, Anderson and cinematographer Michael Bauman, along with editor Any Jurgensen, revel in large-format movement, whether it be chases on foot or in vehicles, often highlighting heated pursuits and exploring tricked-out living spaces, keeping Bob in a state of panic as Willa experiences her own fears out on the open road. As much as the movement ratchets up the anxiety, the moments in which characters slowly and carefully move from one room to another are just as riveting as the frenzied action on display.
As a storyteller, Anderson does a stellar job with introductions, allowing the audience to easily follow along and making character identifications organic rather than tedious expositions. He’s always been a filmmaker who trusts his audience. Whether it’s the highs of peak insanity or the lows of character development, tempo is also crucial to the feature. Production designer Florencia Martin also does a stellar job of pulling together the locations and settings of the film, creating an environment that’s more timeless than period-specific, despite the use of pay phones. The score by Jonny Greenwood (who also scored Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood”) that accompanies “One Battle After Another” offers a variety of piano playing, from plucky clunking to propulsive pieces, often collaborating with other sonic sounds and a trio of strings.
It helps that Anderson also has an impressive ensemble cast to bring it all together. There are manic and furious turns from DiCaprio and Penn, both of whom really keep things interesting, despite Penn going cartoonish at times. But the real showstoppers are Taylor and newcomer Infiniti, who deliver memorable turns as strong and resilient women who are fighters.
It all culminates in a wonderfully strange and intermittently propulsive feature that has an absorbing flow, despite its length. As for any complaints about the runtime? Just stop. If audiences can handle big-budget superhero CGI smackdowns that approach the same length as this, they can handle another enthralling piece of art from a filmmaker who’s never disappointed.
RATING: ****
