One Battle After Another
2025 · Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Original language: English
- thriller
- crime
- comedy
The story
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.
What it’s like
Warm, sun-bleached and restless, with the grain of 70mm film doing much of the work: wide anamorphic frames of desert highways, dusty motel rooms and small-town streets, lit by hard afternoon sun and sodium-orange night glow, then broken by sudden handheld rushes through crowds and standoffs. Sound leans on a loose, jittery score and sharp bursts of gunfire and shouting, with long quiet stretches of wind and traffic between them. Its vibe is wry, anxious and rowdy, a shaggy chase that plays like a comic caper with real danger underneath, best for a long weekend watch when you want momentum and a laugh. The pacing shifts unevenly, sprawling and digressive one moment and taut the next. Its emotional core is a flawed, paranoid father and his fiercely capable daughter slowly learning to trust each other under pressure. Violence is frequent and sometimes abrupt, with shootings, chases and a brief but tense confrontation with racist menace; sexual content is limited, and some scenes carry profanity and drug use. For viewers who like political satire and character-driven action, and who can handle an unsettled, loud tone.
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