One Battle After Another Movie Review

One Battle After Another (2025)

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Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon (inspired by the novel "Vineland" by)
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Wood Harris, Alana Haim
Rated: R
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Plot
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces and she goes missing, Bob scrambles to find her.

Verdict
It's gripping from nearly the beginning. Rebels and the military face off, and the question soon becomes who's right. While the rebels can be violent, the military does just as much if not more. It's just that the ones enforcing the rules don't have anyone policing them. At the crux of the story is a former rebel who's located and forced to run, but when he discovers they've taken his daughter the battle is just beginning. The other aspect of the movie is these rebels years later. Nothing has changed. Does that make the sacrifice worth it? Is change possible?
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Review
This opens with a group of rebels attacking a detention center. Their motives are initially unclear, but it seems they want to free detained immigrants. Two of the rebels are a couple, Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor). When they later have a child, he wants to settle down and stop their contributions to the cause but she has no intention of slowing down. When one of her missions goes wrong, Pat must run away with his infant daughter.

We see this rebellion, and I get it, though I don't condone the violence and crime, how else do you fight a corrupt system? We see the establishment commit crimes too, but there's no one to arrest them. How can I condemn one group when the other group employs the same tactics, if not worse? The establishment commits crimes to cover up, obfuscate, and remain in power. The rebels want to empower people and restore balance. If the sides weren't so clearly marked, we'd quickly align with the rebels. The government being part of the system automatically grants them credibility. They're represented by Lockjaw (Sean Penn). He's not good. All of his actions are built on selfishness. Lockjaw gathered information on the rebels and executed them. That's earned him a promotion.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Pat/Bob

Pat changed his name to Bob. He and his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) have survived for sixteen years. He's been paranoid he'd be found, becoming a stoner to cope which she understandably resents. Lockjaw has been hunting down the rebels all these years, and he finally gets a lead on Bob. He has a personal reason to eliminate both Bob and Willa, though he claims it's an operation targeting immigrants. The extensive rebel operation manages to warn Bob and Willa before they're found. Part of this is comical as Bob is too baked to know what he's doing. He's forgotten pass codes and safeguards over the years that grant him access to rebel assistance. It's a source of comic relief throughout. I wonder what he's been doing over the years. Did he have a job?

Chase Infiniti plays Willa

We see the force the military uses to enter residential homes. This is under the guise of finding illegal immigrants? What we see are methods used for dangerous and violent criminals. A protest against this show of force turns violent, but we watch a soldier in disguise infiltrate the rebels to ensure it turned violent so they could arrest protesters. I wondered how none of the soldiers questioned the methods, but that's part of what this movie explores. If you side with the military, then you concede those in charge can't commit crimes based solely on their positions in the hierarchy and thus the rebels are criminals precisely because they aren't in power. They're criminals simply because the military states they are. It's so easy for Lockjaw to weaponize the army for his own personal vendettas and grievances.

Lockjaw finally apprehends Willa. She attacks his ego and he falls right into it, erupting in a rage at a child. I wondered if the big Ford F250 truck we saw him driving was insight into his ego and lack of confidence. Willa points out he wears lifts in his shoes. Lockjaw refuses to kill her, instead trying to hire it out.

Sean Penn plays Lockjaw

The whole movie is just wild. Avanti is hired to kill Willa and refuses, in turn contracted to take her to a militant group. He drops her off and then goes back for her. Why? It's certainly convenient for the plot. He's not the moral backbone to this story, but I suppose you could grant that he didn't want to kill the kid and realized turning her over would be the same effect. That allows her a chance to escape. The conclusion to that fiasco is pretty slick.

There's so much more to this movie, like why Lockjaw is after Bob and Willa. The entire movie makes you wonder about motive. Lockjaw is the military and his motives are always suspect. It's misdirection. What does that imply about the government at large? How many operation are self serving? Then again the rebels have been fighting for all these years and it doesn't seem like much has changed. If you don't fight, there's no possible way for things to change. What's just and right all depends on your perspective, and this implies we shouldn't accept anything at face value.