PLOT: In a police-state version of the United States, a former member (Leonardo DiCaprio) of a revolutionary militia group called The French 75 tries to rescue his daughter (Chase Infiniti) from the clutches of a deranged military man (Sean Penn) who might actually be her biological father.
REVIEW: I often complain about Hollywood studios being unwilling to take risks when it comes to making movies, but every once in a while a film like One Battle After Another sneaks through. It’s short on tentpole convention but big on tentpole budget, features an A-list star at the top of his game, and tackles deliberately provocative ideas that will no doubt turn it into a lightning rod for controversy—especially in the current climate. Will it make its money back? Who knows. But at the end of the day, that might actually be irrelevant, because One Battle After Another is a masterpiece. It’s the kind of movie people will still be talking about thirty years from now, long after many others from this era are forgotten.
Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson working at the height of his powers. His career, to me, has been split into three eras: his kinetically charged indie days (Boogie Nights, Magnolia), his artier prestige phase (There Will Be Blood, The Master, etc.), and now what feels like a return to the vibe of his earlier work (which I always preferred). That return began with Licorice Pizza and continues here with a propulsive, fast-paced mash-up of action, family drama, and conspiracy thriller, with healthy doses of comedy peppered in. It’s wildly ambitious—and hugely successful.
The movie is anchored by three outstanding performances. First is DiCaprio as Pat Calhoun. An initially committed revolutionary bomber, his priorities shift after his wife, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), gives birth to their child. Sixteen years after Perfidia vanishes, Pat has become a shell of his former self, lost in a haze of pot smoke and booze. DiCaprio is at his best here, playing Pat—later known as Bob—as a man who’s completely gone to seed but forced to pull himself together when his daughter is kidnapped. While the trailers make it look like he’s giving a semi-comic performance, it’s more nuanced than that. Despite his vices and limitations, Bob is one of DiCaprio’s more admirable characters, with his love for his daughter being unquestionable.
The second standout performance comes from Chase Infiniti, making her film debut as Pat/Bob’s daughter Willa. A compelling screen presence, she propels much of the film’s second half as her character gradually awakens to two uncomfortable truths about her parents: that her mother wasn’t the selfless revolutionary Bob described, and that Bob may not even be her real father.
This brings us to Sean Penn, delivering one of his most iconic performances as the villain, Steve Lockjaw. A high-ranking military leader, Lockjaw harbored a sexual obsession with Perfidia, who manipulated him for her own ends. The film’s inciting incident comes when Lockjaw is invited to join the White Nationalist Christmas Adventurers’ Club, a secret organization controlling much of the United States. His membership, however, is jeopardized by the possibility that Willa may be his mixed-race daughter—someone he now feels compelled to eliminate.
Of all the characters, Penn’s role is perhaps the most complex. While Lockjaw is a nightmarish villain—an unhinged, violent racist—Penn imbues him with an uncomfortable layer of humanity. He plays him as both pathetic and frightening, a sad product of his time rather than a one-note boogeyman.
All of this makes One Battle After Another a defining film of our era. Anyone who sees it this weekend will recognize something of our world within it, and Anderson never reduces the story to a simple good guys vs. bad guys narrative. Even with people you assume are going to be heroes, like Taylor’s Perfidia, are motivated at times by selfishness and ego, while the French 75 are portrayed as reckless dilettantes when it comes to the consequences of their actions. At the same time, Anderson gives audiences a strong father–daughter storyline to invest in, along with plenty of levity. The packed audience I saw it with was clearly riveted throughout the entire 160-minute runtime—which flies by.
To me, One Battle After Another stands alongside Boogie Nights and Magnolia, my two favorites of Anderson’s, as one of his most emotionally engaging works. The supporting cast shines as well, particularly Benicio del Toro as Willa’s beloved karate sensei, who becomes a natural ally to Bob after her abduction.
Technically, the film is impeccable. Anderson and DP Michael Bauman shoot in a 1.55:1 VistaVision aspect ratio (the same used by Hitchcock for North by Northwest) to stunning effect (it begs to be seen in 70mm or on an IMAX screen). The cinematography is gorgeous, and the action sequences—low-key yet realistic—are striking. One climactic car chase along rolling interstate hills had my heart in my throat, while Jonny Greenwood’s score ranks among his very best.
There’s something genuinely exciting about Warner Bros. releasing four films this year that make the most of the big-screen experience. Sinners and F1 delivered for action, Weapons did it for horror, and now this does it for drama. One Battle After Another is a full cinematic meal—the only movie I’ve seen in a long time where, if I’d been offered the chance to watch it again immediately after it ended, I would have said yes without hesitation.
