Rating: R | Runtime: 161 minutes
Release Date: September 26th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director(s): Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer(s): Paul Thomas Anderson / Thomas Pynchon (inspired by novel Vineland)

I’m calling in a Grey Hawk 10!

Paul Thomas Anderson says he had three ideas bouncing around his head before finally putting them together for One Battle After Another. One was an action car-chase. Another was an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland (the author of the director’s earlier film Inherent Vice). And the third was something that incorporated a woman revolutionary. To know this before sitting down to watch the result is to know exactly which parts are which.

Act One: Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor). A badass rebel ready to take down the fascistic military machine one hot button issue at a time (immigration, abortion, etc.). Act Two: Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio). A kindred spirit to Joaquin Phoenix’s “Doc” Sportello considering sixteen years spent frying his brain with drugs and alcohol has him wondering if the notion that the government might still be hunting him is real or paranoia. Act Three: Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti). Their imperiled daughter on the road.

The man connecting them is Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn)—a key military figure in the war for white purity who transforms from Perfidia’s victim into Bob and Willa’s pursuer. Countering his power trip are two indispensable allies to the cause via Regina Hall’s Deandra (the pragmatic realist of Perfidia’s “French 75”) and Benicio Del Toro’s Sensei Sergio St. Carlos (a new wave Harriet Tubman whose zen disposition allows him to be the perfect foil to Bob’s lunacy).

While one would assume from the marketing push and buzzy chatter (on both sides of the aisle) that they’re woven into a plot about rebellion, that isn’t the case. No, One Battle After Another may exist in a world similar to the white supremacist, Christo-fascist ethnostate the MAGA movement is swiftly constructing today, but its story is conversely about parenthood amidst revolution. Do you choose the mission (and by extension your own ego) like Perfidia and Lockjaw? Or do you choose the next generation (by way of your children) like Bob?

That’s the central question everything else orbits. And it’s answered pretty early considering Bob is the de facto protagonist willing to do whatever it takes to save his daughter while the new rebellious regime (led in part, for reductive purposes, by Sensei) does whatever it takes to help him as an OG legend. Is putting Perfidia and Lockjaw into the same bucket by way of their selfish desire for glory a relevant choice to make? Sure. Should Anderson have taken more care to give its complexity justice? Definitely.

Because despite both characters ultimately turning on their own blood, the context behind that choice is vastly different. You’re talking about a revolutionary and a Nazi. And since Nazis call themselves revolutionaries while labeling the Perfidias of the world animals, the nuance of their identities demands attention. By simply glossing over this fact to lean into the fun of a burnout swearing over the phone at the “French 75” because he can’t remember their passcode, you kind of give the false equivalency credence.

It therefore takes some mental gymnastics to blindly disregard the flippant way in which the film’s politics are exploited/satirized. A lot of people are apparently okay with that considering the raves have One Battle After Another as the odds-on favorite to win Oscar, but I’d implore you to pump the breaks. Let it be your problematic fave (much like Licorice Pizza considering its own controversial choices in the name of comedy), but don’t pretend it’s some irreproachable masterpiece. Flaws should be discussed, not erased.

That being said, I enjoyed the ride too. Anderson knows how to make a three-hour runtime entertaining and every second DiCaprio and Del Toro are on-screen together is a gift from God. No one was more surprised than me that their Inherent Vice-portion of the film is my favorite considering I believe that’s the filmmaker’s weakest title, but the juxtaposition of two dudes with good vibes thwarting a domestic military invasion is just what we need today. They’re the inflatable frogs pissing off ICE by simply dancing in the streets.

It’s just a shame, though, that their shenanigans overshadow the bigger message. Because the Perfidia part captivates thanks to another great Taylor performance before evaporating so Lockjaw and Bob can unknowingly partake in a sperm count competition. And the car chase is super riveting despite also being rushed by its need to introduce new and forgettable players for its violent panache. So, I guess what I’m saying is that this is one very good film that might have been three great ones. Less isn’t always more.

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(L-r) Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson and Benicio Del Toro as Sensei St. Carlos in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. A Warner Bros. Pictures Release.