Paul Thomas Anderson has outdone himself once again. With One Battle After Another, he’s surpassed the firepower of There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia. Without a question, this is his boldest and most politically charged work to date.
While Hollywood often vilifies revolutionaries, Anderson dares to humanize them, even elevating them to hero status.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson, a washed-up ex-revolutionary from the French ’75, a fictional political movement, is both tragic and hilarious in his first pairing with Benicio del Toro, who delivers a mesmerizing performance as a karate instructor and community leader. Sean Penn, meanwhile, is a disturbingly brilliant as Colonel Lockjaw, a man so desperate to become a member of a white supremacist secret society, the Christmas Adventurers Club, that his eventual downfall feels almost pitiful. Yet it’s his obsession with black radical Perfidia Beverly (played with fire by Teyana Taylor) that drives the film’s emotional core.
Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Vineland, the film masterfully weaves past and present with a rhythm that never feels forced. One moment, Bob’s watching The Battle of Algiers while getting high, the next, he’s making sarcastic remarks about the American forefathers during a meeting with his daughter’s teacher. By the way, his comments about Roosevelt’s imperialist legacy in the Philippines and Benjamin Franklin being a slave owner were delivered with such dry wit, I nearly laughed out loud.
The action scenes are gripping without the usual Hollywood excess. No exploding cars, no slow-mo nonsense. The crackdown on the underground movement is portrayed with brutal realism. At times, the movie moves so fast it’s almost overwhelming—you barely get a moment to breathe. But honestly, that’s a small trade-off for a film this powerful.
As intense as it gets, John Greenwood’s score keeps the film grounded. The soundtrack plays like a mixtape of nostalgia and resistance: The Jackson 5’s Ready or Not (Here I Come), Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, The Shirelles’ Soldier Boy, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ American Girl all hit exactly the right emotional register.
I admit—as a progressive, the film speaks to me deeply. But bias aside, this is just damn good filmmaking. The storytelling is unflinching, and the cinematography is visually stunning. I wouldn’t even call it a “propaganda film” as some conservatives claim.
To sum up, Anderson’s latest masterpiece doesn’t just reflect the political turmoil of Trump’s America, but it mirrors the social unrest around the world, especially here in the Philippines. The nationwide protests during the martial law anniversary, the public outcry against flood control scams and bureaucratic corruption—this film totally captures that energy.
If you’re still trying to make sense of the political mess we’re in, One Battle After Another is essential viewing. It offers no easy answers, but it leaves you with a choice: either you remain a spectator, or you take a stand.
Daniel is an avid lover of music and films. While most people his age would spend their leisure time playing online games, he enjoys creating playlists and movie lists. Daniel has also written opinion pieces for various publications. He studied Political Science at Adamson University and is currently an associate at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. He would never say no to a cold beer!