Review: One Battle After Another

22 December, 2025 William Eguizabal 0 Comments 2 categories

Title: One Battle After Another
MPA Rating: R
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor
Runtime: 2 hrs 41 mins

What It Is: Perfidia (Taylor) and Bob (DiCaprio) are freedom fighters who, to some, could be seen as domestic terrorists. They love one another, the future looks bright, and they are expecting a child. Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Penn), however, has other ideas about what their future should look like. He knows who Perfidia is and what she’s done, and when he convinces her to give up the names of her known associates, she sells them out in exchange for protection.

Now Bob and their newborn baby are in hiding. Fast forward more than a decade, and Lockjaw has some loose ends he wants tied up. That includes Bob and his now-teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), and he will do whatever it takes to tie up those ends permanently.

What We Think: Paul Thomas Anderson is a 21st-century master of cinema. Make no mistake about that. From films like There Will Be Blood and Licorice Pizza, Anderson always seems to have his finger on the button that turns whatever he’s crafting into something ambitious and, quite frankly, unlike anything else we’ve seen in cinema this year.

Leonardo DiCaprio is simply stellar. Working with the material he’s given here, I’m more than certain no one else could have pulled off the level of excellence we get in this performance. Every performance is top-notch. Benicio del Toro is a scene-stealer, as usual.

Our Grade: A+, There aren’t many things I can say that haven’t already been said. This is simply a terrific film. Anderson continues to defy cinema’s trappings and just makes whatever the hell he feels like making. Quite seriously, whatever his next project is, it will hopefully be a marvel. Not literally a Marvel. Please don’t do that to him.

See the film. It’s available on HBO, and it’s going to get all sorts of love come awards season.