‘One Battle After Another’ Trailer: PTA’s Zingiest Since Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson is back with a Pynchon zing on his Tenth Feature: One Battle After Another. Not that one needs a trailer to ignite the hype fuel when it comes to PTA; nonetheless, this electric trailer with groovy Greenwood on the keys makes it hard to contain the excitement till September 26. Finally, Leonardo DiCaprio – after coming close to being cast as Dirk Diggler – in a PTA film.

An adaptation of Pynchon’s first post-Gravity’s Rainbow novel, Vineland – not as straight of an adaptation as Inherent Vice but not as loose as V – that deals with the hard afterlives of American revolutionary politics. Vineland, set in the Reaganite Summer of 1984 forms a third of what happens to be called his California Trilogy – using California as a hotspot to narrate the experience of twentieth-century American politics with a lot of zaniness. The movie, however, is set in contemporary America, with (perhaps) flashbacks to 1975.

The official synopsis of the film goes:
When their evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years, a band of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own.

Now Bob Ferguson isn’t exactly a counter-culture doper but the traits are definitely eclipsed with Zoyd Wheeler. Lockjaw’s infinite chase for Chase Infiniti’s Wilma on an infinite highway is paving way for PTA to flex his muscles as a director of action. Shot on VistaVision, the marriage of the image and music is already hypnotic.

A special shoutout to Benicio Del Toro, who fits the archetype of such Sauncho Smilax coded characters so seamlessly; if PTA ever plans on completing his own version of Pynchon’s California Trilogy, then Del Toro needs to be the one constant.

The common consensus of test screening word-of-mouth links the affinities of One Battle After Another with Repo Man and Something Wild. It’s almost a festive season for cinema, as the director whose oeuvre consists of nothing but One Masterpiece After Another returns with his tenth, who, unlike his buddy Tarantino – a victim of his own mindset – plans to make films for as long as he can, and god bless him for that.

You can watch the trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another here. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti and is set to be released in theaters on September 26th, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures

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