I am often considered to be a very critical person. Whenever I tell my friends I don’t like a film, they tease me and call me a snob (which I am, but it’s still very rude). However, one thing that often comes from my constant critique is that if I think a movie is near perfect, it’s probably near perfect from everyone else’s standards. Case in point, “One Battle After Another” is my favorite movie of the year so far; from the directing to the acting to the writing, it’s perfect in almost every way, and I hope through this review, I can convince some of you to watch it because it is worth the watch.
“One Battle After Another” follows the story of Bob, an ex-revolutionary who is on the lam and taking care of his daughter after his partner abandoned him. One day, an enemy from Bob’s past shows up on their doorstep, and with his daughter in danger, Bob has to step up and try his hardest to save his daughter. The problem is, he hasn’t been a revolutionary for 16 years, he is super out of shape, and he has no idea how to contact any of his friends.
The first aspect I want to praise about this film is its directing. Paul Thomas Anderson (more simply referred to as PTA) is easily one of the most talented directors of the past three decades, and this film is truly a standout. There is a scene near the end of this movie that is probably one of the coolest and most stressful shots I have ever seen. It had me sitting there wondering: How did they get that done so perfectly? It’s because PTA is a perfect director. It’s also because this film had a huge budget of around $175 million. This big-budget approach to filmmaking is new territory for PTA, who has mostly directed smaller films, but PTA took it in stride. You can see every dollar of that budget on screen just from the way the film looks. It’s absolutely remarkable.
Another notably great aspect of the film is its performances. They were all great, but if I had to highlight a few, I would say that Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Chass Infiniti have some of the best performances not only of the year, but the decade in this film. Leonardo DiCaprio pulls an all-time comedic performance in this film as Bob, while still feeling heartwarming and relatable. Sean Penn delivers a truly haunting performance as the main villain, Steven Lockjaw, who pulls some of the most heinous stunts ever. Chase Infiniti really hits it home as Willa, Bob’s daughter. She brings so much emotion to the film, and I cannot believe that this is her film debut. I really hope she gets more jobs in the future, because I want more performances like this in my movies!
Possibly the greatest part of this film is its writing. PTA’s ability to weave so much comedy, drama, action, and social commentary into one film is absolutely astounding. This movie has so much to say, and I feel like this is the first movie I have seen this year that really delivered on all of it wholeheartedly. This movie is possibly the world’s wokest film of all time, criticizing the border crisis, the American government, and white supremacy. However, the movie never loses sight of the bits, which we get all the way to the end of the film. It is long, it is heavy, but it is entertaining despite this fact.
If I had to turn my super-critical brain on once for this film, I think one part that could have been better was the score. There were parts I definitely enjoyed about the score, but others felt really out of place and almost ruined the tone of certain scenes. It didn’t make the film any worse; it was just noticeable and kind of annoying because the rest of the film is amazing.
Despite one minor gripe, I think “One Battle After Another” is easily the best movie we have gotten out of 2025. From the writing to the directing to the acting, this movie is operating on levels I can’t even really comprehend. The only thing I can say more about this film without totally spoiling it for everyone is that I think everyone needs to watch this movie, just because it is that good. After watching all of PTA’s other films, they are all really great as well, and I hope this one will finally bring him gold at the Oscars.
