Paul Thomas Anderson is back!
One Battle After Another is Anderson’s 10th film, in an almost three-decade career, and it’s one of his best, certainly, his wildest cinematic thrill ride to date. And that’s saying a lot considering he’s given us Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master and Phantom Thread. His last offering, Licorice Pizza, was arguably his weakest, noting that Anderson-weak is still excellent.
Loosely based on the 1990 Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland, this timely, exhilarating, wholly engrossing suspense thriller-romance-crime drama-dark comedy begins with the one of the most exciting extended prologues recently captured onscreen. Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an idealistic revolutionary demolitions master set on changing the world. He and his fierce, passionate and determined partner, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), set about targeting right-wing institutions that fight against racial equality, abortion and immigration by bombing government buildings and raiding immigrant deportation camps. Perfidia runs into a bit of a snag in the form of the rigid, cutthroat (aptly named) Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), and she uses his lust for her to wiggle out of it.
All seems to be going to plan— and it’s as if the plan was based on the Patty Hearst-kidnapping group the Symbionese Liberation Army—until all hell breaks loose and Perfidia is forced to make a life altering decision—not just forever changing her own life but the lives of her fellow revolutionaries, her two lovers and her newly born child, Willa.
The film leaps forward 16 years and Bob is a perpetually stoned paranoid, living off the grid with the now teen Willa (newcomer Chase Infiniti). Lockjaw has a newfound desire to locate Bob and Willa, and absolute insanity ensues.
DiCaprio just keeps cranking out one extraordinary performance after another—and most go egregiously unrecognized by AMPAS. He was NOT nominated for his stunning work in Revolutionary Road, Django Unchained, Don’t Look Up or Killers of the Flower Moon. And he doesn’t get enough credit for how diverse his choices have been and how nuanced his performances are. His Ferguson is funny but can’t be dismissed as comic relief. Bob must learn to live again to save his daughter. And DiCaprio dives in fully. It’s a riveting, poignant turn from one of the most formidable American actors of his generation.
In the hands of another thesp, Lockjaw could have easily been a one-note villain. Instead, Penn imbues him with a ‘mea culpa’ type of self-hatred and a desperate need to be accepted (by a gaggle of white supremacists, but still) that we can almost pity him and wonder exactly where he went awry—the way we look at many of today’s members of Congress. He’s real and messy, which makes him all the more frightening. Give him the Supporting nomination, now!
Taylor proves feral and captivating. When she leaves the narrative, she is greatly missed.
Benicio del Toro plays a key part and is the one character who we instantly empathize with.
Anderson’s film is daring, deliberately provocative and quite nihilistic. He’s unafraid to point fingers. But he’s not just interested in condemning our reigning leaders and institutions. He’s also keenly diving into the psychology of human nature and how a person so politically committed to a cause can do an immediate and destructive about face when their own freedom is on the line. We are all fickle. Many of us are lemmings. And most of the time we’d rather self-medicate than take action. The film could easily play on a triple bill with Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, in terms of its cynicism regarding humanity. And as strange as it sounds, it’s refreshing to see a film that doesn’t insist on spoon-feeding his audience hope. Instead, it’s busy shining a light on, or psychoanalyzing, if you will— the disaster we’ve created. Do with it what you must. Or hit the cannabis.
With 11 Oscar nominations and no wins, perhaps it’s finally PTA’s time.
One Battle After Another opens in theaters on September 26, 2025.
Race over, right?
Still a race. Critics aren't Academy voters. It'll be nominated for sure, and he'll probably win Director though.
But this is seemingly not just critics – Letterboxd is also through the roof, and the film is, by all indications, quite accessible. It’s being positioned as an entertaining and funny blockbuster. I’m sensing Parasite vibes. Plus the circumstances are aligning for a coronation for the overdue PTA.
In any case, it seems almost certain that it will remain frontrunner for the season. The only question remaining is whether anything can mount an underdog campaign, probably centred around emotions. Maybe Hamnet, but it’s tough to do when it’s the underdog that seems much more niche and “criticy” than the frontrunner.
Other films I had faith in (Marty Supreme, A House of Dynamite) now seem well dead and out. And BP/BD splits don’t really happen these days, since Parasite changed the nature of the Oscar game.
Letterboxd isn't Academy voters either. Plus, you know how people love to take down an early frontrunner. It absolutely could win Best Picture, but I'm just saying it's wise to be more cautious when it's still mid-September. It's a long way to March.
Parasite is a different story as it had the sense of discovery behind it. People became intoxicated with the idea of getting behind the first foreign film to win. What's the story here other than PTA? That still has to develop.
Also, it's going to have to crawl out from under that enormous budget / tepid box office story. And will Warner prioritize this over their campaign for Sinners? I don't have the answer to that, but it's something we should consider.
I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying a lot of factors have yet to play out.
Sure, there's still a long time to go. I guess this reception (overall) just feels a little more extraordinary to me than simply stellar reviews. Everybody is falling over themselves to declare it a masterpiece and give it five stars.
We'll see! 🙂 I appreciate the responses.
I also think that after a bit of a disappointing festival season (with some major exceptions like A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, DEAD MAN'S WIRE, BUGONIA–which, for me, are three of the best films of 2025) many of us have been hoping for something to blow us away. This did it for me. But whether it's provocative, no-bullshit approach will appeal to AMPAS is anybody's guess. It's going to be interesting.
Definitely still a race. So much can happen, but I think he's a lock for Director and Penn is now the Supporting Actor front-runner.
PTA is in the top five master American storytellers, maybe three working in cinema. His direction has been impeccable, riveting and visionary over the past three decades. If this is one of his best, then bravo PTA for bringing another masterpiece to the theaters and to audiences. He's a cinematic genius and treasure. He understands cinematic storytelling like few others. Thanks for the great review. Can't wait to see it!