I had no idea what to expect going to the theaters to watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s (PTA) One Battle After Another. I knew of him as a director, yet I had not seen any of his movies. I was aware that the movie starred Leonardo Dicaprio and Sean Penn, and I had a vague idea that it was about revolutionaries. 

After having seen the film three times, it is now my favorite movie of the year, and in my opinion one of the best made over the last few years. In one of America’s most politically turbulent years since the Civil Rights Movement, Anderson has managed to create a movie that is not only extremely well made, but also demonstrates smart and thoughtful ideas about race and politics. And members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), who pick the Oscar winners each year, would agree, because on March 15th, 2026 during the 98th Academy Awards, One Battle After Another won six Oscars including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

To begin with, One Battle After Another immediately captures you with its stunning cinematography and soundtrack. Anderson partnered with the Cinematographer Michael Bauman, with whom he had previously worked on his 2021 film Licorice Pizza. Stunning shots such as Teyanna Taylor’s pregnant character, Perfidia Beverly Hills, shooting a machine gun in an empty field help to encapsulate an entire story in just one frame. The car chase that occurs at the end of the film on Highway 78 in Southern California, nicknamed the “River of Hills,” is a beautifully tense scene that leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat. 

Aiding it is the pounding, relentless score by Johnny Greenwood, the lead guitarist and pianist of the band Radiohead. Greenwood has worked with Anderson on several of his films such as; There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012), Phantom Thread (2017), and Licorice Pizza (2021). 

Elevating the film further are stellar performances from Leonardo Dicaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Teyanna Taylor, and, making her film debut Chase Infiniti. The strong acting on display helped the nearly three hour movie feel as if it were half its true length. 

The story is contemporary, but begins around 16 years ago during what would have been the Obama presidency. It follows the left-wing revolutionary group known as the French 75 who, believing the government to be fascist and oppressive, raid immigration centers and bomb a number of government buildings. The first 40 minutes or so are incredibly fast paced, introducing a number of characters and packing in many ideas about revolutionary action. 

Demolition Man Pat, played by Dicaprio, develops a relationship with Perfidia Beverly Hills, played by Teyanna Taylor. During a raid on an immigration detention facility, we are introduced to Captain Steve Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn, who is sexually humiliated by Perfidia and revealed to be attracted to African-American women. 

A constant theme throughout the movie is the power dynamic that exists between white men and black women in America. An uncomfortable camera angle facing Perfidia from Lockjaw’s waist as he is sitting down immediately displays the aforementioned power imbalance that exists and how the idea of power turns both of them on. 

As the group continues their violent activities, Lockjaw becomes obsessed with Perifida in an almost cartoonish way. After catching her planting a bomb in a courthouse, he allows her to continue as a revolutionary in exchange for sleeping with with him. Lockjaw says to her, “You can blow up anything you want. It doesn’t make any difference to me. I wanted my hat and my gun. If you want to keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll meet me at the Primrose Path, 2300.” 

This again ties back into the exploration of power dynamics. Perfidia’s character is overly sexualized, especially from Lockjaw’s perspective, and he wants to control her even if it means allowing her to continue acting as a terrorist. To him, stopping her from blowing things up doesn’t matter at all; he wants to demonstrate that he has power over her after being humiliated in the beginning of the movie. 

In regards to Perfidia, she agrees with his demands as long as she gets to keep leading the French 75. We see throughout this first act that Perfidia enjoys being in control of herself, and gets turned on by violence justified by revolution. 

Everything begins to change, however, once Perfidia gets pregnant. Pat begins to lose his zeal for the revolution as he focuses on being a father and taking care of a child. This creates conflict between him and Perfidia, who feels neglected and wants to continue the “revolution.” She decides to leave Pat and baby Charlene, rejecting Pat’s “crumbling male ego.” The revolutionary joyride comes to an end, however, after a bank robbery goes wrong when Perfidia kills a guard and is subsequently caught by the police. 

Lockjaw offers to put her in witness protection if she agrees to testify against her fellow revolutionaries. Perfidia’s physical presence in the movie ends after running away from witness protection to Mexico. However, the desire of both her and Lockjaw to have complete power is what drives the rest of the film, which only gets better from this point. 

The characterization of Perfidia as a somewhat selfish, self-righteous, overly sexualized figure has generated a lot of backlash. I had the chance to interview Gregory Hernandez, Executive Director at the Bronx Independent Cinema Center. He spoke on the reaction of many of his black, female colleagues in the film industry to how she was written. “Yes, you know, there are a lot of black women in my network. Many of them felt the urge to walk out after the first 20 minutes of the film, because of how they were portrayed,” Hernandez said. Perfidia feels like a caricature of a black woman, which helps explain the visceral reaction to her role in this movie. 

The first time I watched One Battle After Another, the first 40 minutes felt very uncomfortable. I felt myself thinking, “Who wrote this? The writing feels offensive.” After repeated viewing, I feel the same way, yet it seems that Anderson intentionally creates an uncomfortable environment.

In many of his other movies, Anderson explores flawed masculinity and the desire men have for power and control. In perhaps his most well known movie, There Will be Blood, there are almost no women, with the most notable female character barely having ten minutes of screen time. However, every character who only exists around other men seems to have a life completely consumed by greed and ambition. 

To me, Perfidia’s character exists to bring out these desires in both Lockjaw and Pat. Lockjaw is a reactionary white supremacist, yet she brings out this obsession inside of him that challenges his feeling of control. Pat is also attracted to the power that she holds, as she seems to be able to draw attention from anyone. 

Teyanna Taylor provides such an electric, energetic performance that it can be easy to miss the purpose she serves in the narrative, and only look at the surface level of her actions. The question still remains of whether or not she had to be written in such an overtly unrealistic way. While I don’t think it was necessary, the only reasonable answer I can think of is that Anderson wanted the audience to see Perfidia from the perspective of Lockjaw and Pat.

For a white supremacist like Lockjaw, she would appear as a total stereotype, especially given her violent activities. He is drawn to her, but only sees her as an object for him to exercise his power over. For someone like Pat, who isn’t very put together, her energy and passion for the “revolution” would be totally captivating as well as sexually exciting, but that would be all he would see from her. While it takes a lot of thought and sort of requires you to get over your initial reaction at her character, I think that Anderson has the audience see her from a male gaze in order to expose the flaws in those men. 

The sexual activity and desire that results from revolutionary actions is not limited to Perfidia and Pat however. It seems to be awakened in many members of the French 75 as their operations get more and more violent. 

The pleasure that the revolutionaries get from their actions is clear commentary on the motivations of young people caught up in a cause. 

Following the ill-fated bank robbery, we see Pat and baby Charlene go into hiding, as the cover of every member of the French 75 has been blown by Perfidia. Under the names Bob and Willa Ferguson, they move to the town of Baktan Cross in California. 

The story then jumps ahead sixteen years, where Willa has grown into a resourceful, competent young woman raised by Bob, and her karate sensei, played by Benicio Del Toro. 

Lockjaw has moved up in the military, and is aiming to join the Christmas Adventurers, a group of wealthy, far-right men aiming to “find dangerous lunatics, haters, and punk trash and stop them.” In order to join them, Lockjaw has to undergo a “double Yankee white Inquisitions completum.” This refers to the same security check of government officials with “yankee white” being the nickname for white house security level clearance. 

At an initial meet-and-greet with some of the members, Lockjaw answers the question of whether or not he has ever engaged in interracial relations. He lies, but it is made clear that a more thorough search will be conducted.

At this point, Lockjaw’s cartoonish character is exemplified by his awkward limp and pathetic comb-over side part with the sides of his head shaved. Sean Penn plays him perfectly, either dialing the intensity up to 11, or showcasing Lockjaw’s more repulsive qualities. 

He immediately moves to search for Willa as she is the only possible connection to his relationship with Perfidia. Although Bob is assumed to be her father, the possibility of it actually being Lockjaw is never denied. 

French 75 member Howard Summerville (Paul Grimstad) is captured by the Native American bounty hunter Avanti (Eric Schweig). He reveals Bob and Willa’s location after Lockjaw’s men threaten his family, yet a distress signal was sent out upon his capture, alerting the remaining French 75. 

It’s at this point that Lockjaw decides to launch a military operation in Baktan cross to find Willa under the pretext of busting a heroin operation. Baktan Cross was set up by the French 75 as a sanctuary city for immigrants from Central and South America who Lockjaw refers to as “Wet and Stinkies.” The term “wetback” is a highly derogatory slur aimed at immigrants, particularly those of Mexican descent. 

This military operation is another instance of PTA showcasing the dangerous potential of toxic, fragile masculinity. When it came to Perfidia, Lockjaw didn’t actually care about stopping her from committing terrorism as long as he got what he wanted from her. When it comes to searching for Willa, he utilizes a vast array of resources, and descends upon the city, driven by his all-consuming desire to be admitted into the Christmas Adventurers. He’s obsessed with power and getting what he wants, and PTA aims to highlight how dangerous that sort of man is. 

Lockjaw acts tough around those he feels he has power around. Yet, whenever he is around people he feels inferior to, like the Christmas Adventurers, the bravado is dropped, replaced by a kind of meek, complacent lackey. 

In spite of his efforts, the Adventurers discover Lockjaw’s secret. Senior member Virgil Throckmorton (Tony Goldwyn), assigns Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker) the task of “making the situation clean.” This meeting that takes place in an surprisingly extensive underground bunker beneath a large suburban home ends with all the members around a table bringing their hands together and saying “all hail Saint Nick.” 

Lockjaw and his men put their operation into action immediately after arriving in Baktan Cross and meeting up with the local law enforcement. They close locations suspected of being “heroin distribution centers” and round up all the workers. 

Willa, in the meantime, is getting ready to go to her school dance while chastising Bob after waking up in the afternoon following a night of drinking. It is clear that despite Bob’s descent into a near-constant weed induced daze, he has still raised Willa well and is not a total screw-up as a parent. Before letting her leave with her friends, Bob makes her take a tracking device given to them by Howard Sommerville before they fled. It will pair up with any other device to make a sound within a certain radius, and only those trusted by the French 75 have these trackers.

Willa is rescued by the French 75, including Deandra (Regina Hall) who had helped Bob and Willa disappear in the first act. They escape the school just as the military enters and shuts down the dance in order to question every student. 

Bob is also contacted by the 75, but due to his frequent drug usage, he finds himself unable to remember the series of codephrases in order to get the designated rendezvous point. He becomes paranoid and escapes through an underground tunnel just as Lockjaw arrives at his house to find Willa. Bob makes his way to Willa’s dojo to find her Sensei Sergio.

Benicio Del Toro as Sensei is the performance that really elevates this film for me. He completely steals every scene he is in. Despite the chaos going on around him he remains completely measured and unruffled.

Sensei takes Bob back to his apartment in order for him to charge his phone so that he can call the revolutionaries back and get the rendezvous point. On the way they witness protests against the law enforcement presence, which escalate when men planted in the crowd by Lockjaw start throwing molotov cocktails. Sensei reveals that he runs what he calls a “latino Harriet Tubman situation” from his apartment, helping immigrants hide from the military. 

His character is the complete opposite of Lockjaw, while Bob remains somewhere in between them. Sensei is surrounded by his wife and daughters at home, while Lockjaw is completely alone. Bob at least has Willa in his life, who is not afraid to challenge him when he is wrong. Anderson uses this difference to highlight the importance of women when it comes to checking the dangerous capacity of the toxic masculinity that Lockjaw represents. 

Despite initially protecting Willa, one friend eventually gives up her cell number after being threatened with arrest. Although Bob doesn’t allow Willa to have a phone due to the security risk, she has one nonetheless. Deandra discovers the phone and gets rid of it, but not before the military is able to track their location. 

Lockjaw’s men follow her to a church in the desert hills, where a bunch of weed-growing nuns, including some former French 75 members, take her in with Deandra. Despite seeming completely unable to accomplish anything, and getting arrested after falling off a rooftop, Bob remains committed to finding his daughter. Sensei helps him escape the police and they set off to the church, which Bob learned about after being able to contact one of his former comrades who, unlike “Comrade Josh,” doesn’t press him for any passwords.

Although the nuns initially seem well prepared to defend themselves, they, along with Willa and Deandra are all rapidly taken into custody. Lockjaw prepares a DNA test and discovers that Willa is, in fact, his daughter. Bob is forced to jump out of Sensei’s car and set off towards the church on his own when cops see the pair drinking while driving. 

With tension building, the last act of the film begins. Lockjaw turns Willa over to the bounty hunter Avanti to get rid of her. Tim, the Adventurer sent to get rid of Lockjaw, catches up with after the exchange and shoots him in the face, causing Lockjaw to crash. 

Meanwhile, Bob is still searching for Willa in a hotwired car. Once Tim shoots Lockjaw off the road and watches him crash, he turns around and begins to hunt down Willa. A captivating car chase ensues after Willa escapes, with Avanti’s help, from the white supremacist group that he delivered her to, even though he ends up dying. Chase Infiniti, in her film debut, is quite incredible to watch as Willa, who remains resourceful until the end, despite finding herself in a harrowing situation. 

With Willa in the lead, followed by Tim in his powerful sportscar, and Bob in a ratty car he hotwired, the camera lurches over each hill in the road as the cars go over it. The car chase ends with Willa leaving her car at the top of a hill and Tim being unable to stop in time. Willa shoots Tim as he stumbles out of his crumpled car just as Bob finally catches up. The audience finally gets to relax when Willa and Bob embrace each other. 

To top off the overt chaos of OBAA, we see Lockjaw limping over a hill with his assault rifle, despite being shot point blank in the face with a shotgun and crashing his car. 

The cartoonish, over the top portrayal of two sides of the political spectrum are also at the center of OBAA. The fact that the far-right secret society is named the “Christmas Adventurers club” and they are a group of middle-aged white men with names like Virgil Throckmorton is purposefully ridiculous. 

Despite the fact that the Adventurers are clearly the racist bad-guys, OBAA is hardly one-sided. The French 75 are their polar opposite, and yet just as ridiculous. Nitpicking over passwords and seeming to be unable to accomplish anything, they represent the aspect of revolution that is rooted in self-righteousness for the sake of being self-righteous. Perfidia and all of the other members of the French 75 don’t just commit acts of terrorism for the cause, they do it because they seem to enjoy it. And once Perfidia is caught, she rats everyone else out.

Make no mistake, OBAA is most definitely an anti-fascist movie, but it doesn’t spare the counterparts of fascists. It shows them as two sides of the same coin that seem constantly locked in a battle with each other, but never going anywhere, hence the name One Battle After Another. 

What’s interesting is that the only one who seems capable throughout the movie is Sensei. His operation runs almost as smoothly as he does in spite of everything going on around him. He exercises his own ideological beliefs, standing against the military, but he does so in a calm and collected manner, completely avoiding the ineffective chaos of the French 75. 

His character represents someone that operates purely out of compassion for others, which is its own ideology in a sense. If there was just one single thing I would advise viewers to take away from this film, it would be to act like him.

Yet there isn’t just one thing to take away. One Battle After Another is loaded with politically charged messages that get audiences to stop and think about what they are watching. The political landscape in America has made it a major controversy and hindered its performance at the box office. Despite all of that, it remains a must watch for those who are interested in either cinema or current events.

One Battle After Another is a riveting watch for anyone who takes the time to think about what they are watching. I would not only recommend it based on the fact that it is a well-made movie, but also because it requires the viewer to do some critical thinking, something which we find lacking in today’s world. 

After having seen One Battle After Another three times, it is now my favorite movie of the year, and in my opinion one of the best made over the last few years. In one of America’s most politically turbulent years since the Civil Rights Movement, Anderson has managed to create a movie that is not only extremely well made, but also demonstrates smart and thoughtful ideas about race and politics.