Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) is an original voice — and with few genuine auteurs left in moviedom, his is one worth saving. The question then becomes: saving for which particular movie? If you’re thinking of One Battle After Another, I’d have to get back to you on that… after a decade or two of afterthought.

For One Battle, PTA has received widespread acclaim (it holds a 95 percent rating, with no negative reviews on Metacritic), but it’s not as great as his more intimate, emotion-shaking works Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. Yet, like Boogie Nights, one cannot deny the ballsy originality of the story he tells.

Like Phantom Thread, my view of this film will likely stay in flux; PTA’s films often belong to that rare circle where subjectivity trumps objectiveness. At times, One Battle feels like a contemporary masterpiece; at others, it is merely a good film hailed as great for its alignment with today’s politics and mood.

Three things it will never be, in any era or context: boring, formulaic and clutter-free.

One Battle After Another lives on auteurist whims, where human flaws, agendas and a filmmaker’s preference overtake order

Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern novel Vineland which, as per Wikipedia, chronicles the “free spirit of rebellion [of the Reagan era]” and its clash with “fascistic Nixonian repression.” Here PTA shifts the narrative to the present, embedding a new, woke revolution into the story’s DNA.

The official synopsis reads: Washed-up revolutionary of the radical group the French 75, Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) exists in marijuana-induced paranoia, living off-grid with his spirited daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her — father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.

While that’s one way to look at it, the film is certainly no action movie, but it is kinetic and chaotic. Its biggest flaws are the characters’ self-indulgence and their lack of remorse.

The characters are simple in concept, often getting their highs from bombings, mayhem and shouting ‘Viva la revolución’, with most of their actions often leading to sexual gratification. On the other hand, one doesn’t know who exactly to root for, since the government and military are run by white supremacists.

Penn might be the villain — and he is, playing rigid, drained, and crazed all at once — but the true powerhouse (and the real villain, in my view) is Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), Bob’s former lover and Willa’s mother. PTA gives Perfidia a roaring, out-of-control spirit that puts her intemperance first. Born into a family of revolutionaries, her mother puts Bob down by saying “She’s a runner and you’re a stone”, empowering her volatility.

In the first half, Perfidia eclipses everyone, with PTA offering a raw, unfiltered view of her flaws. Through her, he paints a mesmerising portrayal of a revolution where cause and decadence bleed into each other. The second half jumps 16 years later, when Willa (too old to pass for 16) studies karate, until she’s kidnapped (Benicio del Toro is a hoot as her teacher and Bob’s fellow revolutionary).

There isn’t much plot in One Battle After Another. Like Perfidia, the film lives on auteurist whims, where human flaws, agendas and a filmmaker’s preference overtake order. At the centre is DiCaprio, delivering a distinctly Lebowski-esque turn — loose-limbed, frayed and unexpectedly funny, even in unfunny moments.

In recent years, DiCaprio’s gravitation toward complex, fallible men (Killers of the Flower Moon, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Don’t Look Up) has sparked a late-career renaissance; his characters no longer beg for attention, yet stand tall — and often confused — amid chaos they can’t control.

It’s an Oscar-worthy performance in a film seemingly made for the Oscars. But does it deserve its accolades merely for being distinct? Ask me again in a decade.

Released by Warner Bros and HKC, One Battle After Another is rated “A” for adults. One wouldn’t want kids to watch it anyway

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 12th, 2025