One Battle After Another (2025)

	Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson	COUNTRY USA GENRE Action/Thriller NORWEGIAN TITLE One Battle After Another RUNNING TIME 162 minutes
	Produced by: Adam Somner Sara Murphy Paul Thomas Anderson
	Written by (based on Vineland by Thomas Pynchon): Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
"Ghetto" Pat Calhoun	Leonardo DiCaprio	½
Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw	Sean Penn
Sergio St. Carlos	Benicio del Toro
Deandra	Regina Hall
Perfidia Beverly Hills	Teyana Taylor	½
Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun	Chase Infiniti
Laredo	Wood Harris	-
Mae West	Alana Haim	-
Howard Sommerville / "Billy Goat"	Paul Grimstad	-
Junglepussy	Shayna McHayle	-
Virgil Throckmorton	Tony Goldwyn	-
Tim Smith	John Hoogenakker	-
Grandma Minnie	Starletta DuPois	-
Avanti	Eric Schweig	-
Bill Desmond	D. W. Moffett	-
Roy More	Kevin Tighe	-

Review

Paul Thomas Anderson's dystopian crime-action is an all-out assault on eyes, ears, and almost every other faculty – a film as rich and multifaceted as it is hyperbolic and self-absorbed. Leonardo DiCaprio plays bomb specialist Pat Calhoun, whose girlfriend, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), is a leading figure in a far-left revolutionary group determined to overthrow the right-wing militant government. When the two become parents to little Charlene (Chase Infiniti), and Perfidia rats out her comrades after being apprehended by law enforcement, led by Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), Pat's perspective shifts, and he leaves his old world behind – seemingly.

The aptly titled One Battle After Another may not exactly be a battle to watch, but it alternately gnaws at and imposes itself on you. At its best, such as in the tender portrayal of the bond between father and daughter (DiCaprio and Infiniti), the film encompasses universal truths and sensitive themes in a poignant package. In its more feverish parts, Anderson cannot quite mold his characters' overblown personas and his emblematic scenes into a fully reconciled satire to form the film's undercurrent. There are nevertheless flashes of brilliance throughout, highlighted by a delicately innovative, brilliantly shot chase sequence towards the end. The film is also somewhat marred by Jonny Greenwood's abrasive, insistent score. There are solid, entertaining performances from the supporting cast – including a wild-looking Penn, the talented Infiniti, and an aptly laid-back Benicio del Toro – plus, of course, another commanding, accomplished turn from the ever-brilliant DiCaprio.