One Battle After Another – REVIEW

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s newest film, “One Battle After Another,” is a sprawling, 163-minute epic in line with his other lengthy works. Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel *Vineland*, the movie follows a group of urban guerrillas called the French 75 – a name suggesting a lack of cleanliness – and their leader, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). Perfidia, a strong-willed Black woman, leads the group in a daring operation to free Mexican immigrants held at a military base. The operation leads to the humiliation of Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who develops a sexual obsession with Perfidia despite his ingrained racism.

Perfidia shares a child, Willa, with Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio). We meet Willa sixteen years later, now a teenager played by Chase Infiniti. Bob is a single father, still occasionally connected to the French 75 organization. Meanwhile, Lockjaw is secretly tracking down the group, and Perfidia’s old friend, Deandra (Regina Hall), rescues Willa from a high school dance just as it’s raided by the Colonel’s soldiers.

The story immediately throws you into the excitement as Bob desperately searches for Willa, who has been taken to a hidden guerrilla base. Unfortunately, Bob has forgotten the passwords needed to find it. He teams up with his former martial arts instructor, Sergei (Benecio Del Toro), hoping Sergei can help him locate Willa and also protect him from Lockjaw’s pursuing forces.

This film offers a lot to appreciate, with strong performances, particularly from Teyana Taylor and a standout Sean Penn, who plays a troubled colonel desperately seeking acceptance from a secret society of powerful, racist businessmen. Like his best work, director Paul Thomas Anderson expertly weaves together a diverse cast of characters and creates engaging scenes that make the movie fly by. There’s even a unique car chase, filmed with a dizzying, hypnotic style unlike anything you’ve seen before. The film’s score, by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, is distinctive and, in this case, minimal and unsettling, continuing his fruitful collaboration with Anderson that began with the excellent ‘There Will Be Blood’ in 2007.

One Battle After Another is a truly excellent film, likely to be a strong contender during awards season. Don’t let its length discourage you – it’s well worth the time and effort.

Here’s the One Battle After Another trailer…..

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2025-09-23 02:23