It’s messy, exhilarating, and feels totally alive – like watching chaos with a big grin on your face.
Paul Thomas Anderson has a way of making me both love and question what I’m watching, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Plot Summary of One Battle After Another (Spoiler-Free)
One Battle After Another follows Bob Ferguson, a former radical trying to live a normal life, which is already a hilarious concept if you ask me.
He’s been out of action for sixteen years, attempting to be a dad to his teenage daughter Willa, who is smart, fearless, and has no patience for her father’s incompetence, but of course, trouble finds them.
Bob’s old enemy, Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, resurfaces, dragging Bob back into a resistance network he hasn’t touched in over a decade, and from there, the film spirals into a mix of action, comedy, and absurdity as Bob navigates dangerous chases, old grudges, and chaotic alliances.
One Battle After Another Review: Is It Worth Watching?
One Battle After Another is absolutely worth watching, even if you need to suspend a lot of disbelief, as this isn’t your standard action movie.
Anderson almost immediately throws you into a world where fireworks are used as tactical distractions and white supremacist cabals operate like cartoonish boardrooms, and the cast is what makes this film work so well..
Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson is brilliant – he’s a mess, but a clumsy, anxious, sweet mess who tries so hard to be a dad and a hero at the same time, and the way he fails is endlessly entertaining.
At one point, he’s more concerned about his dying phone than the gunfight he’s in, and he brings this frazzled energy with a vulnerability that makes you root for him, even when he’s completely incapable.
Sean Penn as Lockjaw is also a revelation, and I’ve never seen him this funny and terrifying at the same time, where one moment he’s a grotesque, over the top villain, while the next he’s oddly tragic.
Penn is clearly having the time of his life here, and it’s contagious, as he makes the chaos feel both dangerous, and ridiculous all at once.
And Willa, played by Chase Infiniti, is a breakout. Sharp, magnetic, and fearless, she’s the perfect foil to Bob’s clumsy heroism, and helps ground the story emotionally and gives the audience someone to root for, and is just flat out fun to watch.
And a mention for Teyana Taylor as Perfidia – she’s heavily pregnant and simultaneously firing machine guns like she’s auditioning for a Marvel movie, tender with allies, ruthless with Lockjaw, and somehow magnetic in every frame, and Taylor sells every bit of that contradiction.
The political commentary in the film is quite sneaky but clever too, and you get nods to real world injustices, but Anderson leans into the absurdity rather than sermonizing. The way he deals with violence with bureaucratic absurdity – white supremacists in ridiculous boardrooms, revolutionary meetings that feel like PTA gatherings – is sharp and funny.
It’s satire, but it hits hard without hitting you over the head. and you will find yourself laughing at moments that should make you feel uncomfortable, and that’s exactly what makes it effective.
If you’re a fan of action sequences, you will have a lot to love too, as they are cinematic candy, and Anderson isn’t just shooting cars going fast, he’s choreographing pure and utter carnage. There are at least two extended car chases that are brillaint and the final desert chase felt like a dance of cars weaving through hills.
I’ve seen action plenty of times before, but rarely with this kind of precise, dreamlike energy that makes your heart race and your brain go, “Wait, what just happened?“
Jonny Greenwood’s score also deserves its own paragraph, as it’s loud, brash, and abrasive, and it fits the movie perfectly where guitars scream, strings twitch nervously and electronic blasts hit you out of nowhere. The music doesn’t just accompany the action, it destabilizes it, and keeps you off-balance like Bob himself.
I occasionally had to remind myself who was allied with whom, and sometimes wondering if I was missing something obvious, but the confusion is part of the fun. It feels like Anderson wants you to be a little lost, to be swept along with the chaos, and for the most part, it works great.
It’s fair to say that I loved it.
It’s messy, it’s absurd, it’s thrilling, and it’s unlike anything else out there right now, and that’s Anderson at his best, pushing boundaries, making you think, and making you feel all at once.
What I liked (And What I Didn’t like)
Pros
Leonardo DiCaprio
DiCaprio makes a clumsy, anxious dad feel quite heroic, and you can’t help but root for him.
Sean Penn
Penn helps keep the tension high while delivering absurd laughs, making every scene he’s in exciting.
Teyana Taylor
Taylor manages to balance the chaos with some grounded charisma.
Clever Political Commentary
The satire lands without ever feeling preachy, and mixes in humor with sharp observation.
Car Chases
Anderson choreographs chaos with precision.
Jonny Greenwood’s Score
The music helps to energize every scene and adds to the unpredictability of the story.
The Humor
The film can make you laugh at times you probably shouldn’t be.
Cons
Tonal shifts
While not as off putting as some films, the tonal shifts can feel jarring at times, but it isn’t anything groundbreaking.
Who might like One Battle After Another
- Fans of chaotic, surreal action
- Leonardo DiCaprio enthusiasts
- People who enjoy absurdist humor
- Fans of Paul Thomas Anderson’s style
- Those who enjoy political satire without heavy-handedness
- Anyone who doesn’t mind a little confusion in the story
Who might dislike One Battle After Another
- Anyone who prefers tightly plotted, straightforward narratives
- People sensitive to tonal whiplash
- If you who dislike absurd or surreal humor
Final Verdict: Did I Enjoy Watching One Battle After Another?
One Battle After Another left me feeling exhilarated and thoroughly entertained.
Anderson has crafted a film that refuses to play it safe, and he delivers action and comedy that just delivers – It’s alive, it’s bold, it’s funny, and it’s thrilling, and I can’t wait to watch it again in 4k.
It is a reminder that chaos, laughter, and stubborn heroism are sometimes exactly what we need.
One Battle After Another Trailer
Simon Leasher
A lover of cinema for over 35 years, I have watched many films from around the world in many different genres, yet I still normally always come back to trashy slasher horror films when in doubt. More
And yes, The Godfather 2 is better than The Godfather.
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