If you walked into a theater expecting a standard Leonardo DiCaprio action flick, you probably walked out feeling like you just survived a fever dream. Paul Thomas Anderson—or PTA as the film nerds call him—has finally dropped One Battle After Another, and it is a lot. It’s a 162-minute, $130 million sprawling mess of a masterpiece that somehow manages to mix Thomas Pynchon’s stoner paranoia with high-octane car chases and a secret society of white supremacists.
Honestly, it shouldn't work. But it does.
The movie is loosely based on Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, but Anderson has updated the setting to a "barely reinvented" modern America. We’re talking about a world where the borders are militarized, sanctuary cities are under siege, and the ghosts of 1960s radicalism are literally coming back to haunt the present.
What Really Happens in One Battle After Another
The story kicks off with the "French 75," a far-left revolutionary group on a mission to liberate an immigration detention center. This isn't some polite protest. It's explosive. We meet Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills—who is easily the most electric part of the first act—and Leonardo DiCaprio as "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun. They’re lovers, they’re radicals, and they’re about to have their lives ruined by a very angry, very perverted army officer named Steven J. Lockjaw, played by a terrifyingly focused Sean Penn.
Fast forward sixteen years. Pat is now "Bob Ferguson." He’s a paranoid, stoned-out-of-his-mind father living off-grid in Baktan Cross, a sanctuary city in California. He’s raising his daughter, Willa (played by breakout star Chase Infiniti), and trying to keep their past buried. But history isn't done with him.
The title One Battle After Another isn't just about the fight scenes. It’s basically a mantra for the characters. Life for Bob is just one constant struggle to keep his head above water while the U.S. government and a shadowy cabal called the "Christmas Adventurers Club" try to drag him back into the light.
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Why the Leo and Sean Penn Dynamic Is So Weird
DiCaprio is playing a version of himself we haven't seen in a while. He’s a mess. He’s "Rocketman," an explosives expert who has spent too many years smoking pot and hiding from the world. He’s barely competent, which makes the stakes feel real. He’s not John Wick; he’s a guy who forgets the revolution’s secret handshake when he’s on a payphone trying to save his kid.
Then you have Sean Penn.
Lockjaw is one of those villains that makes your skin crawl. He’s obsessed with Perfidia, he’s a racist, and he’s desperate to climb the social ladder of the elite white supremacist society. There’s this ridiculous quality to his anger that Penn leans into—apparently, he even has a "best on-screen walk" that people are already meme-ing.
The French 75 vs. The Christmas Adventurers Club
The movie positions these two groups as two sides of the same chaotic coin.
- The French 75: Anti-capitalist, militant, and prone to blowing things up. They start as heroes of the movement but, as the film shows, they often implode.
- The Christmas Adventurers Club: A secret society of wealthy, far-right extremists. Think Eyes Wide Shut but with more overt bigotry and political leverage.
It’s a vicious examination of power. Anderson doesn't hold back on the politics, but he wraps it in a "commercial" shell. You get the feeling he’s asking: "What happens when your ideology fails you?"
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The Breakout: Chase Infiniti as Willa
While Leo and Penn chew the scenery, Chase Infiniti is the heart of the movie. As Willa, she’s the one who actually has to deal with the fallout of her parents' "revolutionary" lifestyle. She’s a karate-chopping teenager who doesn't quite believe her dad's stories until the helicopters start circling their small town.
There’s a scene toward the end—no spoilers, but it involves a blind summit and a pistol—where you realize the "baton" of the battle has been passed. She’s not just a plot device to be rescued. She becomes the protagonist of her own story, fighting against a system that wants to erase her family’s history.
Technical Brilliance or Just Too Much?
Shooting on VistaVision (a 1950s large-format film tech) gives the movie this massive, legendary feel. The colors are saturated, and the silhouettes are sharp. Combine that with a Jonny Greenwood score that is mostly just an "off-kilter piano," and you get a film that feels like it’s constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Some critics think it's too long. At nearly three hours, it’s a marathon. But the pacing is surprisingly fast. It moves from a botched bank robbery to a convent shootout to a high-speed chase without much room to breathe.
Real-World Inspirations
Anderson didn't just make this up. DiCaprio has mentioned in interviews that the French 75 is loosely based on the Weather Underground, the real-life 1960s group that went underground after a series of bombings. Teyana Taylor also drew inspiration from Assata Shakur’s autobiography. The film might be set in a fictionalized version of today, but the roots are buried deep in American radical history.
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What You Should Do Before (and After) Watching
If you haven't seen it yet, or if you just finished it and your brain is fried, here is how to actually process this thing.
First, don't try to track every single character on the first watch. Between Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro (playing a karate sensei!), and Alana Haim, there are too many subplots to catch in one go. Just follow Bob and Willa.
Second, if you’re into the history, look up the Weather Underground. Understanding how those 60s radicals tried to assimilate back into "normal" society makes Bob’s paranoia a lot more grounded and a lot less like a stoner comedy trope.
Finally, pay attention to the "erasure" theme. There’s a bit where Bob looks at a classroom wall and asks the teacher if they’re teaching the right history. That’s the core of the film. It’s about who gets to tell the story of America and who gets deleted from the record.
The movie ends on a note that feels both heavy and strangely hopeful. It doesn't solve the "battle," because, as the title suggests, there’s always another one coming. But it does suggest that showing up for the people you love is the only way to survive the war.
Check out the official soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood if you want to relive the anxiety of the film. It’s available on most streaming platforms and perfectly captures that "everything is about to explode" vibe that defines the whole experience.