One Battle After Another

Sometimes you need to sit in a dark theater for three hours and think about why we need a new revolution.

Loosely based on the Thomas Pynchon novel, Vineland, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another follows ex-revolutionary Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he tries to reignite the flames of rebellion decades after his heyday as a member of the French 75, a group that once prided itself on destabilizing the establishment in all of its various forms. Father to Willa (Chase Infiniti), a young woman coming into her own as a new type of revolutionary, Bob lives in the shadow of Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), his former flame, absent mother to his daughter, and fellow French 75 member, as he tries to balance raising Willa alone while attempting to stay true to himself and his beliefs as a fringe freedom fighter. Pursued by Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a corrupt military official looking to cover up his own past misdeeds tied to Bob and his family, Bob is soon joined by the like-minded Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro), and joins forces with him to not only keep Willa out of Lockjaw’s hands, but to try and create the better world they’ve always envisioned, something easier said than done.

Even if you aren’t interested in the premise, it’s hard not to appreciate the filmmaking on display from PTA and his team. Beautifully lit, shot, acted, and scripted, One Battle After Another doesn’t shy away from its provocative subject matter, and instead finds a way to push its themes in ways that have a real discussion about what it means to not only continue in the footsteps of a revolution that’s lost a bit of its fire, but more interestingly, what it means to be a single dad trying to protect and teach their kid how one goes about keeping their rebellious streak going in the face of corruption, unlikely odds, and personal hardship.

Clocking in at almost three hours, One Battle After Another is equal parts dramatic, action-oriented, and genuinely funny, with these elements balancing the more serious nature of its plot with levity and a sense of thrill that worked well given what I expected this movie to turn out like. Whether it’s Leo delivering his lines with total commitment, Benicio being his usual odd but commanding self, or even Penn leaning into the overly macho nature of his antagonistic role to, in time, show how weak of a man he truly is, PTA finds a way to turn his script into more than just a straightforward story about revolution and the negative forces at work to unravel it, and instead, effectively turns it into a father/daughter tale about what it means to push the next generation along while simultaneously protecting it from the mistakes of the past.

As for nitpicks, my only issues came from the film’s pacing, as well as a few moments here and there that were less than clear about what was going on plot-wise. Not that the script is doing anything wrong per se, but there are a few dense scenes that try to get a lot across in a short amount of time that don’t always work, mostly ones that featured Sean Penn’s character and his convoluted backstory and, at first, unclear motivations.

Furthermore, with a prologue — really an entire first act — that feels a bit indulgent for what it was setting up, a lot of my problems with One Battle After Another evaporated the longer the film went on, with only a few extra moments feeling unnecessary if not outright unneeded in ways that didn’t necessitate a three-hour runtime. Still, no harm, no foul since the movie still overwhelmingly favors its strengths over any small issues it might have, so by the time the credits roll, I was hard-pressed to complain about much else.

One Battle After Another is objectively a great movie and rightly deserves all of the praise and awards attention it received in the wake of its release. And while I highly enjoyed the filmmaking craft and attention paid to a story that, in other hands, may have felt unwieldy, this one does feel a little long-in-the-tooth at times, especially the opening half hour or so. That said, with fantastic acting from everyone involved, gripping cinematography, and a plot that makes you think about what it takes to start and sustain change across generations, One Battle After Another is a must-see film for anyone who wants to witness creatives at the top of their game.