The old adage “lose the battle, win the war” might be offered to comfort someone after a setback. But director Paul Thomas Anderson needs no such consolation. While the characters of his new film “One Battle After Another” might lose some battles, the film itself wins the war for 2025’s best movie.
In the film, which premiered Friday, Anderson achieves this feat through a fast-paced plot, masterful acting performances and central themes of revolution and rebellion that encourage the audience to reflect on the current state of the world.
The film follows Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-paramilitary, as he attempts to save his daughter, Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti), from an old foe.
The best thing a three-hour-long movie can do is make the audience forget it is three hours long. When I first saw the runtime for “One Battle After Another,” I hesitated, wondering if the film would be able to hold my attention. Yet the dynamic nature of the movie made my initial worries disappear as the film carried on.
The film opens on a modern-day American revolutionary group named French 75 rescuing immigrants from a detention center. The scene utilizes fast pans, explosions and tension to emphasize the direness of the situation, immediately captivating the audience.
From that moment forward, the audience’s attention is sustained with the help of bank robberies, military interrogations and my personal favorite: a high-intensity car chase.
It seemed impossible for anything to top the film’s near-perfect plot development, but the actors’ performances took the film to the next level.
Of all the DiCaprio performances I have seen, this one was by far my favorite. With the assistance of a flashback, the audience is introduced to Bob as a single dad, struggling to understand his daughter’s high school experience as he relies heavily on alcohol and marijuana to cope.
But throughout the film, Bob’s skills from his past paramilitary work begin to resurface, and it is incredible to see the way he grows throughout the film to become more present and develop a stronger relationship with Willa.
Although DiCaprio’s performance was incredible, the star of the show was Sean Penn in the role of Colonel Steven Lockjaw, Bob’s old foe and an obsessive admirer of Bob’s wife, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor).
Even as the villain, Penn offers comedic relief — particularly through body language, such as his rigid posture and formidable scowl, which make his character jarring and unnerving. The audience, myself included, laughed and gasped the most when Penn was on screen.
A standout scene was Lockjaw’s meeting with the advisory board of the Christmas Adventurers Club, a white supremacist group he is hell-bent on joining. His demeanor in this scene is so peculiar that, despite the clear tension between the group and Lockjaw, it is impossible not to laugh.
Yes, the film’s plot and performances are deserving of recognition, but I would be remiss not to mention the timeliness of its themes of revolution and rebellion. No explicit year is stated, yet many of the scenes echo the current realities of our world.
The French 75 invade detention centers, which appear much like the U.S. facilities becoming more prevalent in the news. Sensei Sergio (Benicio del Toro), one of Bob’s allies, offers immigrants sanctuary when Lockjaw and his men invade the city.
These rather overt references to events happening in our country today are Anderson’s way to make the audience think about what needs to be changed and how to accomplish that.
Asked about “One Battle After Another” in a press conference, DiCaprio said he wished to make the “communal theatrical experience happen.” I can only echo DiCaprio’s sentiments and would strongly encourage everyone to rush to the nearest theater. In fact, I’ve already made plans to see it again.
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