One Battle After Another Is Top-tier Paul Thomas Anderson

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s *One Battle After Another* isn’t quite as masterful as his films *There Will Be Blood* or *Phantom Thread*, but it’s far above the standard movie experience. It’s a sprawling, genre-bending film that doesn’t focus on a single character. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, a former explosives expert in hiding, and his story connects the film’s energetic beginning to its more subdued second half. However, the movie is often more about what happens *around* Bob – a man whose years of substance abuse have left him forgetful and disconnected. This film is Anderson’s second adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel, inspired by *Vineland*, but unlike *Inherent Vice*, it’s not a story about the faded dreams of the 1960s. Anderson updates the story to the 21st century, featuring characters involved in modern activism – freeing migrants and even resorting to bombing the offices of anti-abortion politicians. Instead of dwelling on lost innocence, the film shows activism as a continuous cycle of people joining, leaving, or getting arrested, with a sense of cautious hope amidst the consequences.

In a typical movie, Bob would be the hero and Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw – Sean Penn’s over-the-top, intensely macho villain – would be the bad guy. Lockjaw is a ridiculously exaggerated character, physically imposing and moving like a puppet. Bob, often seen in a worn bathrobe, wildly flailing and crawling around, fits right into the string of flawed characters Leonardo DiCaprio has been playing lately. Penn delivers one of his best performances in years – his expression in an early scene, gazing at something with a mix of shock and pride, is award-worthy. However, director Paul Thomas Anderson shows us that both men are actually just misguided figures, small players at the mercy of larger forces. They both share a fascination with Perfidia Beverly Hills (played by Teyana Taylor), a captivating and powerful woman who leads a militant group while pregnant. Perfidia truly feels like the main character, and she effortlessly leaves both men behind, even abandoning her baby with Bob when she leaves.

Unlike Ari Aster’s attempt to explore similar themes in *Eddington*, director Paul Anderson understands that people committed to a cause can still prioritize their own survival. This is powerfully shown in *One Battle After Another* through characters like Perfidia, who immediately betrays her team when threatened, but also in the compromises made by other activists facing intense pressure and threats to their families. The film doesn’t judge those who give in, instead portraying their struggles with empathy, such as in a moving scene where Deandra (Regina Hall) rescues Willa. The film suggests that a movement’s strength lies not in martyrdom, but in its numbers-the ordinary people willing to participate and replace those who fall. A standout sequence shows Bob arguing with a hotline operator while the calm Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro) discreetly helps migrants escape, even arming them for protection. As the threat of Lockjaw-who fabricates a reason to invade and cover up his past-looms over the town, it’s revealed that a network of everyday citizens – shop owners, skateboarders, hospital workers – are secretly working together to aid those in need.

Infiniti, in her first film role, delivers a remarkably mature and compelling performance as Willa, a teenager who always thought her father’s fears of being hunted were unfounded. The film, *One Battle After Another*, blends elements of both action thrillers like *Terminator 2: Judgment Day* and the complex, satirical style of Thomas Pynchon, portraying a young woman raised by a parent convinced of a looming, sinister threat. While the movie is often funny – featuring a bizarre white-nationalist society obsessed with Christmas and greeting each other with “Hail, St. Nick!” – it truly shines during its action sequences, including a thrilling chase that rivals the iconic scene from *Terminator 2*. Willa, with her unique style, ultimately proves to be the hero the film needs, not because of her upbringing, but because of her own courage and determination. *One Battle After Another* doesn’t suggest that young people will *save* the world, but rather that the fight for a better future will continue, with new generations always willing to step up if given the chance.

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2025-09-17 19:54