David R. Walker

One Battle After Another

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, Tony Goldwyn, Wood Harris, Alana Haim

Running Time: 2 hours and 41 minutes

Film Rating: 9 out of 10

Acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson who produced such brilliant films as The Master, Phantom Thread and There will be Blood returns to the big screen with his most audacious and relevant film One Battle After Another starring Oscar winners Leonardo di Caprio, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro.

One Battle After Another is set in a semi-satirical world of America in which migrants have flooded into sanctuary cities and there is an urban terrorist group called the French 75 who are anarchists and there to disrupt any conventional authority whether this is freeing the migrants from internment camps or blowing up banks and federal buildings. Within this radical environment a love affair develops between Perfidia Beverly Hills and Bob, a paranoid loser who is incredibly good at explosives.

Perfedia Bevely Hills is a full on radical urban terrorist, brilliantly performed by Teyana Taylor (Coming 2 America) who deserves a best supporting actress Oscar nomination.

Perfedia is a strong and militant black woman who has an affair with the blue eyed Caucasian Bob, excellently played with the right balance of zealous and uncertainty by Oscar winner Leonardo di Caprio (The Revenant) who channels a similar crazy energy to his role in The Wolf of Wall Street except this time swapping the Wall Street suits for a dirty nightgown and black sunglasses. Di Caprio just hits the right amount of panic and paranoia especially as the film develops and he is the one looking after their love child, their daughter of the revolution, Willa superbly played by newcomer Chase Infiniti.

Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson always paints a broad and multi-dimensional cinematic canvas and in this film he creates the perfect villain in the form of Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw played with precision and brilliance by two time Oscar winner Sean Penn (Milk, Mystic River) and he definitely deserves an Oscar for this role.

Penn is absolutely electrifying as the fanatical army colonel who is out to destroy the French 75, the dangerous lunatics, the scum of the earth that has stained the heart of white America. Lockjaw is one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best characters, an evil and slightly kinky army colonel who had the military on his side but whose fanaticism drives him to join a secret society of men that cherish racial purification involving a bizarre scene featuring Tony Goldwyn as the suave, yet sinister Virgil Throckmorton.

Lockjaw’s aim is to capture Bob and his daughter Willa and soon a bizarre and bloody chase ensues which ends in some startling revelations.

On one level One Battle After Another acts a satirical film about the social ills of 21^st century America from immigration to gun control, but on another it is a perceptive exploration of patriarchy and the woman that resist it, with names like Jungle Pussy and Perfidia Beverly Hills.

With an original script by Paul Thomas Anderson and outstanding performances by Di Caprio, Penn and del Toro, One Battle After Another is an exhilarating ride through the dark and deceptive underbelly of American society touching on every facet from racism to urban terrorism, from military power to the flaws of an underground movement that has lost its agency.

With a brilliantly shot car chase scene near the end to the captivating musical score by Oscar nominee Jonny Greenwood (The Power of the Dog, There will be Blood), One Battle After Another is an outrageous satire on contemporary America packed with dark humour and ominous warnings.

Drawing inspiration from Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson creates a modern day masterpiece with One Battle After Another about subversion, conversion and the product of a love affair during the heady time of social revolution.

One Battle After Another gets a film rating of 9 out of 10 and is original cinema, expertly crafted with some memorable scenes which will imprint on the viewers psyche forever. Highly recommended viewing and a definite 2026 Oscar contender.

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