‘One Battle After Another’ Review: PTA Once Again Returns With Another Masterpiece

It has been a good long four years since we last had a PTA film release, Licorice Pizza, which for many other directors, especially contemporary ones, would reign amongst the best of their careers while it was just another regular, but terrific outing for PTA himself. It has been even longer since we last had a story set in the present day. The American auteur usually specialises in period dramas and reflecting on the times of old much to his best interests of self-discovery, and not since Punch Drunk Love has he directly focused on the modern age. A testament to the importance of such a film like One Battle After Another releasing right now that breaks the trend.

Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, set in 1984, yet reframed to fit our current reality, where both fascism and white supremacy are sharply on the rise. It’s a terrifying recount that only forces viewers to challenge their views and question the dysfunctional society that continues to evade responsibility and only seeks to divide the people. America itself is fighting an uphill battle against the far-right movement, largely branded as MAGA and AIPAC, but expands far beyond those terms and seeks to intrude on the lives of millions of citizens by militarising cities into a place of ethno-blockades akin to characteristics of ethnic cleansing and whitewashing. Most notably, immigrants and people of colour are subjected to torturous and absolutely disgraceful displays of abduction authorised by the shameless Trump administration, where ICE continues to target and dehumanise immigrants, threatening to steal them away from their homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces.

So it goes without saying that there is a huge responsibility as a filmmaker to accurately portray this nightmarish landscape for what it is, not being in denial of the terms rightly thrown in sanctioning these acts of cruelty and inhumanity, but to purposely spin this absurd time we live in the most compelling and confronting way possible as an artist – by creating art that understands these contexts, providing nuance and not shying away from the sins of America that is quickly shaping into an alarming state of dictatorship and censorship. Which we can see after the recent news of taking Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air and cancelling Stephen Colbert’s show. Another example of advocating for hate speech by masking it as free speech, while the 1st Amendment gets revoked consistently to prevent actual, democratic free speech.

Totalling a 162-minute runtime, the floor is set for PTA to take the stage and denounce the current hijacking of American identity by the white nationalist movement. Starting with a flashback of a political rebellion and spy-like tirade fighting for the rights of the marginalised in America in their brave attempts at a revolution. Only to be quickly pushed forward 16 years into the future where times have changed and like the world we see today, we see it on screen and experience the humiliation of our declining society.

Oftentimes hilarious in true PTA fashion, where the cast’s commitment to realising his vision shows the full extent of their vibrant personalities. Leonardo DiCaprio has been going through his own rumination since his youthful movie star look has all but faded in the public’s eyes, yet that doesn’t stop him from wanting to reckon with that and pursue character acting in a way that best displays his true talent and qualities. Finding a middle ground where you see remnants of a Tarantino-style movie and performances with the maturity and self-awareness of a Scorsese feature. Leo manages to capture an interesting balance that showcases his dynamic range as both a comedic and character actor, but also his deeper sensibilities in conveying the truth and emotionality that his characters often possess. In this case, a former revolutionary turned father who singlehandedly raises his daughter away from his former life of violence and struggle.

Seeing how far Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) goes to search for his abducted daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti) is exactly the kind of heart you come to expect from a PTA movie. You are usually surprised by how much you are able to care about often deplorable character actors due to how much humanity and empathy he creates with them. A quality that separates him from most filmmakers of his generation is that he is able to successfully immerse you into his world of dysfunctional, toxic characters who and ground them so deeply you simply want to care for them all.

This is surprisingly very true even for a despicable character like Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, a military leader who is in love with and in search of his daughter to conceal her identity and protect his own secrets from the white supremacist groups.

Sean Penn surpasses expectations and delivers an immense, at times terrifying performance showing the full extent and craziness that comes with people deserving of hate and punishment for their ridiculous assertions and beliefs in oppression, yet there manages to be sympathy carved somewhere in between. Showing that PTA wholly understands how a person can function and struggle, no matter their background or values, even if distorted.

It’s hard not to rave about the entire cast, as with every other PTA movie, the actors all bring their A game and input memorably. Benicio del Toro as the sensei and advocate of the movement, demonstrates his own virtuosity and bravado. But maybe the true star of this movie is none other than debut actress Chase Infiniti. Appearing in a major role in her first film is a tall task, but in a PTA movie, too? You are simply asking for the impossible.

At least that’s what the ordinary eye thinks, unlike PTA and casting director Cassandra Kulukundis, they saw a bright star and expressed full faith. With Chase returning the favour with an inspired, rebellious performance that captures the torrential confusion of the youth and their innate struggle and fierce loyalty to a cause that they believe in. Fighting for the rights of others and resisting against force that seeks to silence them. Willa’s poignant but loving relationship with her dad is one of the more beautiful components that truly makes this cinematic machine work.

Action. That’s what comes to mind after watching this epic. It’s a propulsive thriller that never quite lets the gas up and engrosses you for nearly 3 hours. Barely ever feeling the lengthy runtime. The car chases, parkour sequences are both entertaining and at moments, jaw-dropping with the way PTA chooses to visualise using an array of clever close-ups, flawless and layered editing of perspective, and the thumping score by Greenwood only adding to the urgency and grandiose nature of this film. The final act, and in particular, the last car chase, stood out as a combination of pure adrenaline and a nail-biter.

It’s difficult not to overstate the genuine joys of such a film like this being made today. Especially in account of the fact that PTA continues to make his heartbreaking declaration with his consistent attempts to preserve the beauty of film celluloid. Such a gargantuan, blistering epic being filmed on 70mm VistaVision, which we previously saw in The Brutalist, a stark reminder that maybe there are still some American filmmakers able to not give into the modern blockbuster pitfalls and stick to their tradition by encouraging the theatrical experience and filling the biggest screens with their magical language of cinema.

Warner Bros. must certainly learn from this year after the back-to-back successes of Sinners and now, hopefully One Battle After Another, where it is clear that the world needs films like these to preserve cinema but also that the streaming model will never really he able to replicate or succeed the powers of the theatrical experience and distribution.

If PTA wasn’t already regarded the greatest filmmaker of this century. His latest masterpiece cements his legacy as possibly the best director working right now. A truly accomplished and staggering film on all levels, firing on every cylinder. From the VistaVision 70mm projection to the cinematography, the Greenwood score, the action sequences or the impenetrable editing and layered cast performances. It has a bit of everything.

This film will undoubtedly be in contention for film of the year shouts and deservedly so. A political action spectacle that manages to find time to breathe yet always keeps you glued to the screen. Calling this a cinematic achievement feels obvious but that’s what you come to expect when watching a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. His storytelling and visual language is truly some of the most immersive, memorable experiences you can have in a cinema. 2025 finally got its first blockbuster masterpiece, and it couldn’t be more fitting for today’s political and social landscape.

One Battle After Another stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and more. The movie is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and is made and distributed by Warner Bros.

One Battle After Another releases in cinemas on 26th September

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