There are films that entertain, films that provoke, and films that feel like lightning striking the cultural landscape. “One Battle After Another” belongs firmly in the last category. The best word for writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson‘s searing, sprawling, and outrageously original film is incendiary, as this provocative political epic certainly sets itself ablaze with ideas and imagery. This is a film that refuses to let you leave the theater unshaken, feels both urgent and timeless, and ends in a way that makes you think “wow, movies can still do this.”
After 16 years in hiding, washed-up ex-revolutionary activist Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) is forced back into action when his old nemesis Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) reappears and his teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) goes missing. After almost two decades living off the grid, Bob is a bit rusty, but he finds help in the form of one of his fellow disruptors (Regina Hall) and local karate sensei (Benicio Del Toro). What follows is part rescue mission, part political thriller, and part generational drama, but the film is far more than the sum of its parts. It’s an epic meditation on revolution and the cycles of history that’s told with raw energy and unflinching anger.
Anderson has written a politically charged odyssey that examines the corrosive effects of authoritarianism, systemic racism, and corruption in America. The villains are part of an absurd yet terrifying cabal of white nationalists called the “Christmas Adventurers Club,” and they are depicted with chilling banality (and sometimes a bit of cartoonish mockery). It’s a literal “good old boys club” that embodies how ordinary institutions can weaponize hatred and bigotry, and that’s what makes it so scary. It feels real to see a group of businesslike, powerful white men (all whom are disturbingly recognizable figures) throwing out racist ideas like it’s no big deal. Anderson doesn’t pull punches with his confrontations of militarism, racism, corruption, authoritarianism, and the whole rotten system that is currently eating humanity alive. It’s not subtle, but it is effective.
The political elements are balanced with intimate emotional stakes, and the film’s core is the bond between Bob and Willa. Their relationship is tender, combative, and deeply human. Bob’s love for his daughter is what finally pulls him out of his paranoid haze and back into the fight, and Willa herself is far from passive. She represents the next generation of revolutionaries, fierce, independent, and unwilling to wait for anyone to save her. The women in this film are consistently depicted as empowered and resilient, from Willa to her mother Perfidia (a former radical whose complicated past with Colonel Lockjaw led her to abandon her family).
The film is so thematically rich that it practically begs for repeat viewings. There is a lot going on here that’s just waiting to be dissected and studied, from the cyclical nature of revolution and the dangers of authoritarian power to the blurry line between activism and violence. It’s also a story about legacy and what people pass on to the next generation, whether through ideals, trauma, or sometimes both.
The film’s imagery is striking and deliberately in-your-face. One unforgettable scene shows a heavily pregnant Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) firing a machine gun and drinking beer, a button-pushing visual that celebrates anarchy while collapsing more comfortable, traditional notions of female vulnerability and strength. Disturbing sequences depicting militarized police raids and anti-immigrant crackdowns feel ripped from today’s headlines, forcing the audience to confront the violence of the systems we now live under. This is not a film that seeks a balanced nuance, but is one that gleefully wants to unsettle, to provoke, to start conversations, and to challenge its viewers.
For all its political fury, the movie is also highly watchable. The first twenty minutes may be a bit meandering and messy, but Anderson’s storytelling is so tight that he makes a nearly three hour runtime feel brisk. This is the type of film you experience while it clings to your consciousness, embedding itself under your skin while holding up a mirror to the unsettling state of contemporary America.
The film ends with a rallying call to action that’s actually hopeful. While the world may be broken, hope lies in continued resistance and in new voices carrying the struggle forward. Progress lies in continuing the fight and in passing the torch to new generations who can carve out a different future.
It’s also a reminder of art’s power to both entertain and ignite, to make us feel and to make us think. Long, ambitious, messy in places, but absolutely unforgettable, “One Battle After Another” is the kind of movie that will make you excited about cinema again.
