'One Battle After Another' - Another common PTA win.

Josh
Nov 4, 2025
4 min read

Paul Thomas Anderson (2025)

A semen demon.

Like a new Quintin Tarantino movie, seeing a trailer with an intertitle card “Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson” sends you into a euphoric feeling. Based on the initial round of reviews, it appears that One Battle After Another is resonating with the general audience. Loosely based on the book Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, who also wrote the book that inspired Inherent Vice (2014), people seem to hold on to different aspects of the movie. Whether that’s parenthood, the need for community, finding a purpose to fight for or how worth the fight you’re fighting for. Unless you’re Ben Shapiro, there should be something here for most people to attach to. And even despite its activist theming, that stuff tends to be more focused on what the character believes in rather than what the film wants you to think. It’s a true, “apolitical” movie, I guess you could say. Whatever that is. We witness the horseshoe theory of politics in play, from the far-far-left French 75. To the far-far-right… We’ll get to them.

*One Battle After Another (2025) courtesy of Warner Bros.*

Like many PTA films, the plot is relatively simple. They’re easy sells with complexities in characters, presented with conscious awareness. One Battle After Another follows a group called the French 75, a radical activist group that frees refugees and takes from the rich. When freeing a group of refugees, the head activist, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), holds Col. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), and we see more of the comedic undertones of the film start to surface. And the comedic moments shine. If you haven’t already laughed at the names like Perfidia Beverly Hills, Junglepussy, or Lockjaw, then this will let you in on the gag. At gunpoint, she tells Lockjaw to get it up. Get IT up. As we have the luxury of seeing Sean Penn getting wood, leading to his obsession with her. However, she’s sexually charged by the rebellion and anarchist nature, encapsulated by Pat Calhoun, later Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio). Visually, these opening scenes are accelerating with cinematography from Michael Bauman, shot via VistaVision. I wish I had a VistaVision cinema to see it in.

Lockjaw tracks her down and strikes a deal with her so he can get some tail. We see a few months later, a pregnant Beverly Hills, still trying to fight the good fight. While Bob still wants the rebellion, he leans into the idea of family. And when authorities catch up to her, she rats out the French 75 to be placed under citizen arrest under the watch of Lockjaw. Leading to the French 75 either getting executed or fleeing to a new life. And years later, Bob becomes a washed-up conspiracy drug addict, solo raising a strong daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). Yet the plot kicks off when Lockjaw tries to clear the possibility that she could be his daughter so that he can join the white supremacist group, the Christmas Adventures. Hail, Saint Nicholas! Played completely straight. Albeit it's absurd, it does reflect certain people's views who seem to take issue with it. While these guys are the butt of the joke, PTA doesn’t stray away from also making the French 75 turn into nobodies.

See, it’s a simple plot. With the first chunk taking a solid amount of time, establishing the glory days once gone, to see the contrast of Bob as the Big Lebowski.

The complexity and gripping nature of the story come from its presentation. On top of its beautiful cinematography in VistaVision, which adds to the 70s feel of the movie. Especially the driving segments that sent me down the path of fast-paced 70s Ozploitation car flicks. It's moments like these in a movie where you can feel that someone envisioned this behind the camera. All bought together by PTA regular and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. As Bob tries to track down his daughter and get back in contact with his old crew, we find that he does nothing the whole movie. Like, if he were removed from the movie, then nothing would change. Which, normally, you would say is an issue, but it works in the comedic sense of him trying to rekindle his old ways. Such as the elongated scene where he tries to remember a code word. From numerous locations, he’s constantly calling his old group to remember the phrase. While grouping with Sensei Sergio (Benicio Del Toro), who's actually doing something of importance in the background of the scene.

This aligns with the themes of the film. The end has Willa reading a letter from her Mum, encouraging her to push forward the revolution. Although they failed to make the impact they wanted, the next generation is encouraged to keep fighting the good fight, but do it better, however that may be. And if you don’t agree with the revolutionary method of change, then align with Sensei Sergio. A community member making a change locally. A calming energy contrasting Bob's panicked state, bringing in people to teach them self-defence or taking people in need to build a better community. It opens the audience to methods of change they can make, without having a break into government establishments. Yet when they do need to bring on the violence, PTA makes it as entertaining as you would expect.

PTA films are like an event in the film space. Seeing his name appear during a trailer will have you marking down the date on a calendar. And One Battle After Another has seemed to branch beyond the cinephiles and grabbed audiences from all corners. I feel like I don’t even need to recommend this or point a certain demographic in its direction because I’m sure I have or will see it. Sitting above Weapons, we’ve got this year's first 5/5.