{"id":22155,"date":"2025-10-20T19:03:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T23:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=22155"},"modified":"2026-03-16T11:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:10:52","slug":"one-battle-after-another-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=22155","title":{"rendered":"One Battle After Another-2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Battle After Another-2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Paul Thomas Anderson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,497<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed October 20, 2025<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my opinion, one of the modern great directors, Paul Thomas Anderson, has released One Battle After Another (2025), a film rich in thrills and relevance. Sought to be made for years, the film is inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, with some of Anderson’s narratives peppered in.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, Anderson was influenced by the current state of the United States regarding immigration issues and the tyranny within ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement)<\/p>\n

While immigration is not a new hot-button issue, the inhumanity heaped onto ‘illegal immigrants’ and some US citizens is current as well as powerful.<\/p>\n

Additionally, a frightening tone of racism and ‘white power’ is an underlying theme of the film, contrasting covert hatred by a group of white supremacists with the humanity of revolutionaries who attack the political system.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the film has an overwhelming modern feel.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the breakneck twists, turns, and action make One Battle After Another the crown jewel of storytelling fun and an Anderson offering that could easily be added to his all-time top 5.<\/p>\n

Events follow an ex-revolutionary explosive device expert, “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun \/ “Rocketman” \/ Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is forced back into his former combative lifestyle when a corrupt military officer pursues him and his daughter.<\/p>\n

With new identities, they had assumed they could live a peaceful life, but they were in for a rude awakening.<\/p>\n

Set in recent times, the film begins 15 years before events later in the story, yet maintains a clear link. This ensures the audience is invested in the characters, especially in the latter half, as we get to know them better.<\/p>\n

While DiCaprio can never deliver a bad performance and firmly grips the lead role as the intelligent yet comically clumsy Bob, other actors shine, making One Battle After Another an ensemble piece dripping with award-worthy performances and hefty accolades.<\/p>\n

DiCaprio improvises his way through the script, with stutters and stammering enveloping his character, endowing him with endearing qualities like forgetting a vital password or falling off a roof. Nonetheless, he has sentimental and introspective moments about his life and his teenage daughter, Willa Ferguson\/Charlene Calhoun, played by Chase Infiniti.<\/p>\n

Infiniti is tremendous in her breakout role as a mixed-race girl trying to lead an everyday life while paying for her parents’ crimes and mistakes.<\/p>\n

Playing confident, yet scared and vulnerable, Infiniti is quite the find. Is she destined to follow in her parents’ footsteps?<\/p>\n

Teyana Taylor is brutally talented as she plays Perfidia Beverly Hills, a tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners, kick-ass young woman who teases and humiliates her prey strictly for laughs.<\/p>\n

Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro bring their kind-hearted, supportive characters to life with emotional flair and some needed humor, especially from del Toro.<\/p>\n

The standout, however, is Sean Penn. Giving a bravura performance as the hated and racist Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, a military officer who pursues the French 75, he sneers and pouts, never playing the character over the top or for laughs.<\/p>\n

He truly believes he comes from a superior race while bedding the women he despises.<\/p>\n

A three-way highway car chase scene nearly rivals classic sequences in The French Connection (1971) and The Getaway (1972). As three separate drivers’ points of view are featured along a hilly highway with deadly results, the audience is treated to rear-view mirror and reaction shots.<\/p>\n

I honestly did not know what would happen next and was delighted at the outcome.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, as the years go by, One Battle After Another (2025) will be remembered for embracing different genres and delivering a powerhouse final product. With great acting, editing, storytelling, and action, the film has it all.<\/p>\n

Add in a timely message, and you’ve got yourself a gem.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 6 wins-<\/strong>Best Picture (won)<\/strong>, Best Director-Paul Thomas Anderson (won)<\/strong>, Best Actor-Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor-Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn (won)<\/strong>, Best Supporting Actress-Teyana Taylor, Best Adapted Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best Casting (won)<\/strong>, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing (won)<\/strong>, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One Battle After Another-2025 Director Paul Thomas Anderson Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti Scott’s Review #1,497 Reviewed October 20, 2025 Grade: A In my opinion, one of the modern great directors, Paul Thomas Anderson, has released One Battle After Another (2025), a film rich in thrills and relevance. Sought to be made for … Continue reading One Battle After Another-2025<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6506,151,8276,1635,42,8365,329,362,8520,1616,1982,6403,1800,8363,204,8226],"tags":[6507,152,8278,1637,58,8362,330,363,8525,1620,1990,6406,1803,8364,258,8232],"class_list":["post-22155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2025-films","category-actionfilms","category-alana-haim","category-benicio-del-toro","category-bestpictureoscar","category-chase-infiniti","category-crime-thriller","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-kevin-tighe","category-leonardo-dicaprio","category-paul-thomas-anderson","category-regina-hall","category-sean-penn","category-teyana-taylor","category-thrillers","category-tony-goldwyn","tag-2025-films","tag-action-films","tag-alana-haim","tag-benicio-del-toro","tag-best-picture-oscar-winners","tag-chase-infiniti","tag-crime-thrillers","tag-favorite-film-of-the-year","tag-kevin-tighe","tag-leonardo-dicaprio","tag-paul-thomas-anderson","tag-regina-hall","tag-sean-penn","tag-teyana-taylor","tag-thrillers","tag-tony-goldwyn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22155"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22730,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22155\/revisions\/22730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}