One Battle After Another Movie Review + Brief Soapbox on Box-Office-Watchers (and why they SUCK)

Luke Loew
Oct 16
8 min read

It's been a couple of weeks now since I went to see Paul Thomas Anderson's newest movie One Battle After Another -- director of All-time great films like Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and The Master -- starring Leonardo DiCpario, Sean Penn, and many more. I've mentioned it on previous blogs and how much I loved the movie (my #1 movie of the year thus far), but I've been hesitant to write about it knowing there's many people out there who have yet to see it.

So similar to how I did for Weapons earlier this year -- I wanted to share very generic, non-spoiler thoughts on the film, go through the cast and performances, give some clarity on the movie (the trailers were a bit ambiguous), and my favorite takeaways without giving away the story.

I also have a little spiel about the movie's box office performance -- which if you've seen any headlines about regarding it, has been labeled "disappointing" and a "failure" because it is not tracking to recoup it's massive $300 million budget. I encourage you to read the whole blog of course, because I think there's a litany of reasons to see this great movie -- but even if you're not interested, skip to the end for a Bean's Blog Rant about "Box Office Watchers" (some of the worst people this planet has to offer).

One Battle After Another

Premise

Bob (Leo DiCaprio) is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.

Cast

Character Name -- Actor -- (Prominent Movies/TV Shows on their Resume)

Bob Ferguson -- Leonardo DiCaprio -- (Wolf of Wall Street, Inception, Titanic)
Col. Steven J. Lockjaw -- Sean Penn -- (Mystic River, Milk, I Am Sam)
Perfidia Beverly Hills -- Teyana Taylor -- (Straw, Teyana & Iman, Coming 2 America)
Willa Ferguson -- Chase Infiniti -- (1st movie role, was in Presumed Innocent)
Sergio St. Carlos -- Benicio Del Toro -- (Sicario, The Phoenician Scheme, The Usual Suspects)
Deandra -- Regina Hall -- (Scary Movie franchise, Girls Trip, Black Monday)

General thoughts on the cast/performances overall -- you'll seldom see a movie with better acting performances across the board. Even the side characters/random actors that play smaller roles are incredible. This is a trademark of PTA in my experience with his films -- bringing the best out of his actors -- but this movie's a shining example.

Leo is obviously the Poster Star of the movie -- and he's great as he literally always is. I'm enjoying this recent stretch of Leo where he's taking more flawed and nervy characters -- almost lovable dummies -- and he's lifting up the performer's around him rather than stealing the show (Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time.., Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon).

In this film, that person is Sean Penn. Holy fucking shit. I hadn't seen him in a movie since a tiny role in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty -- but this character is a 180 from anyone he's played before. Col. Lockjaw is an absolute psychopath -- essentially a caricature of Vince McMahon as a military leader who's batshit insane. I'd bet a limb he wins Best Supporting Actor at the next Oscars.

I personally would give that award to Benicio Del Toro -- who's character in this film is a Sensei to Willa Ferguson, as well as father figure to a community of immigrants living in this setting. He's a stark contrast to the big and bold revolutionary group that Bob Ferguson and Perfidia Beverly Hills come from, which offers a sharp counternarrative. Benicio is also beyond hilarious in it, and his calm demeanor plays well off Leo's manic character.

Teyana Taylor's character is a bold and charismatic revolutionary, who is the primary focus of the first part of the film. She's a central figure and Taylor gives a really strong performance, from someone I wasn't real familiar with coming in. Regina Hall is another side character who doesn't have a huge role, but does some incredible facial/reactionary-acting that can only be explained through seeing the movie.

But the biggest standout to me -- whether for it being her first movie or the incredibly pivotal role her character plays -- Chase Infiniti blew me away. It's difficult to play a central figure in any movie, let alone a PTA movie, and she steps up to the plate in a major way. Very bright future.

Why It Works

Reflective of Today's World

Paul Thomas Anderson is known for making "period pieces" -- films focused on a past era. This is one of the first time's he's tackled a "contemporary" timeline -- set in current day. And he really does capture not only a region of the country incredibly well, but the world we live in incredibly well -- especially the ugly, scary parts of it. This isn't really a spoiler, but if you like going in completely blind skip to the next section ---- but a large part of this movie is about revolutionaries fighting against corruption. They want to free families of immigrants that have been detained, the militarized police unit that Penn's character leads rounds up these immigrants -- which if you even remotely follow current events, is something that certainly happens in the real world today.

Perfect Balance of Comedy, Drama, Action

I love a movie that is multi-faceted -- It's a big reason I don't typically like horror movies, and is something I praised Weapons for back in August and how it utilized some comedy. But while that was a horror movie with comedic elements -- OBAA is a straight-up action-comedy that is downright hysterical. There are so many funny bits throughout that had me genuinely LOL-ing in the theater, then 5 minutes later I'd be on the edge of my seat, holding my breath with anticipation of the action unfolding. Balancing that hilarity with tension is my favorite type of movie -- and on top of that, they pile on unreal action sequences that never feel out of place, and never feel unrealistic. No CGI explosions -- just real, grounded, incredible action.

Great Cinematography/Score

Those are fancy words that movie nerds like me like to use -- but it just means the film is shot beautifully and uniquely, and the music is great. PTA hasn't made a big action movie like this -- but when you see the action sequences and how they're shot in this movie -- you'd think it's all he does. There's 3 car chase scenes off the top of my head that are so unique and exhilarating that you feel like you're in the car with the characters. There's also sequences of the camera never cutting -- "oners" as they say -- where you follow characters through different locations and it feels seamless. And the score is very specific and intertwined throughout -- there's a piano riff that's in the trailers that picks up and slows down throughout the film. And the sounds of guns firing, cars crashing, etc -- feel incredibly real, loud, and jarring.

The Last 90+ Minutes, FUCKING RIP

This is a near three hour movie -- runtime is like 2:42. And I love the whole movie, but the first 40-60 minutes are different than what I think most people are expecting going in. That said, it's a perfect and very necessary prologue to the last two-thirds of the film -- and that last two-thirds of the movie is an unrelenting rollercoaster ride. The pacing is perfect, how they change the "vibe" from scene to scene is fluid, and it continuously builds to an epic conclusion. If you're going to the movie theater to see this one (assuming it's still in theaters, I believe it is) -- go to the bathroom during the last trailer, or go in the first 45 minutes -- because no matter how bad I needed to pee by the end, a blackhole couldn't have pulled me out of that recliner.

In Conclusion

I think the trailers for this movie were a bit misleading -- I sure thought they were, and based on people I've talked to and podcasts I've listened to about it, many agree. I think it's because, in the marketing of the film, it's focused all on Leo's character trying to find his daughter. Which is a big part of course, but the movies really about so much more. The different forms revolution can take, how decisions and mistakes of parents get passed down to/affect their children, how persecuted people are made to feel in our country, how those with power abuse it. And a part of the marketing I think they missed out on, and would've helped bring broader audiences, is the pivotal role black women play in the movie.

But all-in-all, I truly can't recommend this movie enough, and think it's well worth the long runtime to experience it in a theater. It blows any movie I've seen this decade out of the water -- even Oppenheimer, which if you know me, was one I wouldn't shut up about. The emotion, the comedy, the action, the suspense, the realism -- it really blew me away. Go see it this weekend in theaters and let me know what you think when you do!

Bean Score

9.5/10

Bean's Movie Rankings - 2025 Releases

One Battle After Another (9.5/10)
Sinners (9.0/10)
Weapons (9.0/10)
Friendship (8.8/10)
Warfare (8.6/10)
Superman (7.8/10)
The Naked Gun (7.6/10)
Fantastic Four: First Steps (7.4/10)
Novocaine (6.9/10)
Mountainhead (6.8/10)
Mickey 17 (6.1/10)
Happy Gilmore 2 (3.7/10)
Kinda Pregnant (0.1/10)

Box-Office-Watchers: Scum of the Earth

If you've made it this far, I applaud and appreciate you persevering through my dorking out above -- I'll be brief here I promise.

There's been a lot of talk surrounding this movie in 2 categories -- 1.) Those who have seen the movie, loved it, and praise the performances, plot etc. And 2.) People who haven't seen the movie and want to point out the fact that it's only made $140 million at the worldwide Box Office, and why that makes it a "failure."

First and foremost, you have to be an unconceivably large loser to care whether a movie makes money. It's not your money that goes into the movie being made -- it's Warner Brothers'. So why do you care? It's a 3-hour rated-R original movie -- people only go see these types of movies when it's based on IP (comic book movies) or based on real people (Oppenheimer). $140 mil is a major achievement, more than any other movie PTA’s made, and the movie itself is one of the best cinematic achievements of the 21st century. If you think it's a failure because it's losing money -- you have a big crap in your pants. “Movies like this will never get made after this one lost money!” There will never be another movie like this. It’s an anomaly in the best way — it will never be recreated, it’s entirely singular, and the amount of money it makes at the box office has no affect on how great it is.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest -- if you stayed with me this long, leave a like and comment below what your favorite PTA movie is. I have a firm Top 3 -- There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and One Battle After Another. I think Boogie Nights will continue holding that #1 spot -- but it can change by the day.