A propulsive and prescient thrill ride that's hard to top
*****
At last! My most anticipated film of 2025. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson has never made a picture less than impeccably crafted. Re-watching his earlier films, I was reminded of his innate talent for entertainment.
In the Nineties, his style was frenetic and eye-catching, evident in Boogie Nights (1997 ) and Magnolia (1999 ). This evolved into a more sedate visual approach, with more attention to the design of each frame.
Anderson had matured as a storyteller, driven to explore psychologically troubled protagonists on unconventional journeys. Daniel Day-Lewis was prominent in his finest two works, Phantom Thread (2017 ) and one of my personal all-time favourites: There Will Be Blood (2007 ).
In the last 15 years, for Inherent Vice (2014 ) and Licorice Pizza (2021 ), he returned to his native California, and looser narratives.
One Battle After Another begins by introducing 'French 75', an underground revolutionary movement, devoted to fighting for minorities' rights and challenging capitalist society.
Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio ) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor ) are two prominent members, and also lovers. With the arrival of Perfidia's child, Charlene, they must reckon with their ideologies and parental responsibilities. On one mission, Perfidia encounters Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn ), who develops an unnerving infatuation with her.
With his 10th feature, Anderson cements his status as the greatest living filmmaker. One Battle After Another is an ambitious, novel venture. Its budget is astronomically larger than previous films (more than $130 million ). It is his first action film, with many expansive, complicated set-pieces. Interestingly, it is his first contemporary film since Punch-Drunk Love (2002 ) so the challenge of integrating modern technology compellingly required imagination.
Anderson's creative prowess shines through this big-budget blockbuster. Despite his lack of action experience, he delivers. Tense sequences are nausea-inducing in their build-up, especially a climactic chase on a hill-riddled road. I was taken aback by the simple yet nervy effectiveness of that scene.
Not a character study in the mould of his most celebrated works, this world is still filled with absorbingly messy and morally questionable characters. Taylor, as Perfidia, commands the screen as an anarchic force. The confident ease with which she inhabits the character instantly mesmerised me.
DiCaprio portrays an anxiety-riddled, hapless man. He throws himself into a physically demanding role that never feels out of his depth. Even with his fame, he can still disappear into these wild, unkempt characters, and display performances of authentic emotion. I was captivated by every minute of his screen time.
Contemporary insight
This a surprisingly prescient film for the current US political climate.
Detention of immigrants and the dispassionate, fear-mongering nature of the US militarism are crucial to this story, but there is no sense of virtue-signaling or being lectured. What is shown is noticeably un-sensationalised, and a frank depiction of what we are accustomed to in today's media.
These real-life similarities do not, fortunately, restrict Anderson from inventing typically memorable characters. Sean Penn is both hilarious and terrifying as an authoritarian, callous narcissist. The flamboyant physicality of Penn's character brings levity to dark subject matter, but his intensity and ruthlessness act as counterbalances; a strangely fascinating antagonist and believable sociopath.
The best praise this film earns is that the monumental budget was utilised to maximise the filmmaker's talents rather than visual effects: large-scale, location-based set-pieces are without artifice. Explosions and car chases have a visceral quality. The film might not contain obvious, compositional excellence found in Anderson's previous masterpieces, but the level of detail and grit infused alongside the chaos of Pat's odyssey is immersive. We don't have time to admire individual shots.
As delighted as I was to see my favourite filmmaker prove his action chops, the film at its heart, is a story about family. Like previous works, relationships are elegantly written and emotionally affecting.
This film needs to be supported in cinemas. Virtuoso filmmakers should not need to face commercial obstacles to realise their visions. We only have a limited amount of time to appreciate and anticipate these auteurs' creative excellence. So please, buy a ticket if you want to see more of what the best minds in the industry can produce.
Now playing in cinemas across Galway
