By Miles Jungbacker
Photo by Margaret Runyan-Shefa
One Battle After Another is the latest film from legendary filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, and it just may be the film I’d pick to represent the 2020’s as a whole.
This is an epic, emotionally resonant film with truly awe-inspiring set pieces and scale that serves as a rallying cry against the bleakness of today’s society and a shining beacon of hope for our future. It’s a modern masterpiece and easily the greatest film of 2025.
For context, in 1989, the film landscape changed when the indie boom, occasionally called Indiwood, began. This scene spawned many big directors, giving us big and controversial names such as future academy award winner Danny Boyle, Steven Soderburg, Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater, Sofia Coppola, Larry Clarke, Todd Haynes, Robert Rodriguez and even Wes Anderson. The biggest name of the indie scene was Quentin Tarantino, who immediately drew attention, acclaim, and controversy for Reservoir Dogs, only to later get propelled instantly into the annals of Hollywood history with the success of Pulp Fiction, never looking back from there. Eventually, this scene sadly petered out in the 2000s, leaving viewers with more big-budget studio films.
There is, however, one name director I haven’t named yet, one of the biggest to find his footing on this scene. His name is Paul Thomas Andserson. In 1996, Paul Thomas Anderson made his move onto the scene with his debut Hard Eight, a film with a huge future, and even present stars, but was still made for less than 3 million dollars. This film is certainly really solid but is only a warm up. His next two efforts of the late 90’s really showed that he was a director to take seriously. Despite his young age, Paul Thomas Anderson manages to have a level of control on chaos that few have ever had. This was particularly shown in Magnolia, where he juggled a three-hour epic following ten protagonists all interconnected during one day. This film structure influenced Zac Cregger when he recently made the movie Weapons.
However, Anderson didn’t just stick to large ensembles. In 2007, PTA released There Will Be Blood, one of 21st-century cinema’s most towering achievements, a film so acclaimed that some circles mention it in the same breath as films like The Godfather or Citizen Kane. Four years after his last movie, Licorice Pizza, he has made a new movie, One Battle After Another, which will likely be the film to finally get him his long-eluded Oscar for best director.
So, naturally, with all the impressive backstory,this film has many things riding on its shoulders. The question is, is this movie worth the hype for average viewers?
My goal is to keep this review mostly spoiler free as I want people to check this film out. The main plot of this film is that a washed former “revolutionary” (that’s what they are referred to, but let’s just say that term is loose in the context of the film) named Bob Ferguson played by Leonardo DiCaprio who is living off the grid with his daughter Willa, played by Chase Infinity, in her debut who gets thrown into a chaotic quest to save her when his former nemesis, Steven J. Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn, comes in and takes her.
Before the film’s main plot begins, we are gifted with a near 40-minute prologue, which sets up many aspects of the film. Essentially, it shows the “revolutionary” group, the French ‘75, in their prime. It shows them doing many acts that certainly are questionable, and this film certainly has had its fair share of controversies due to the first 40 minutes.
In them, we are introduced in a cold open to how the characters first became introduced to Lockjaw and how Bob’s partner Perfidia in many ways messed the rest of the group up through her own mistakes and demons. Self-destructive characters are nothing new to PTA, such as the protagonist of his highly underrated masterpiece, The Master Freddie Quell.
The performances are all amazing in this film. Leonardo Dicaprio has proven yet again that he never misses. He plays a character who is essentially always paranoid and on the verge of breaking down to amazing comedic effect. Chase Infiniti is great in her feature debut as Willa, as is Teyanna Tailor in the opening prologue. Benicio Del Toro is an absolute scene stealer in this movie as a supporting character, and there is a scene where he gives a clap that has become one of the more iconic moments of the film, along with Leonardo Dicaprio’s whistle.
But one performance stands above the rest, and that’s Sean Penn. I’ve never described Sean Penn as one of the great actors. He certainly has been great on quite a few occasions, and it’s always hilarious to compare him in Mystic River to him in Fast Times Ridgemont High, but in this film, he might give the performance of the year. His villain is perfectly hatable, but from the first time we are introduced to him, there is a robotic quality to the way he acts thatis hilarious to watch but also very unsettling.
The way this movie is paced is almost perfect. I say almost because the first 40 minutes, while great, certainly aren’t PTA at his most controlled and is easily the films weakest point. When the main plot does kick in,its pace eventually turns very fast, very stressful, and even action packed. I wouldn’t describe this as an action movie overall, more as an adventure, but it’s easily the most action-packed movie made by PTA thus far.
The cinematography in this movie is absolutely incredible, while I slightly prefer the simplistic beauty in There Will be Blood, The Master or even Phantom Thread. Still, this film is absolutely stunning to watch. Toward the end, there is a car chase scene where the cinematography is really given time to shine and utilizes things most people wouldn’t think of, such as hills, that instantly puts it in the annals of film history with vehicular sequences such as The French Connection and The Wages of Fear.
However, at this film’s center is a beating heart I alluded to earlier. PTA certainly has had themes of found family before, such as in Boogie Nights, and this is certainly him diving the most head on into those themes. This movie is really a father/daughter story between Bob and Willa.
Paul Thomas Anderson has very rarely set his movies during the present day, with only Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love being set during the present day. Usually, he sets them in the past, like the loose and nostalgic ‘70’s, the early 20th century, and even the 50’s. This film really feels like PTA finally facing the present instead of looking to the past. While once again PTA uses his 70’s inspired filmmaking to create the film, he uses it to show a movie that showcases the insanity of our times, particularly recent events, and also the polarization paced in modern society. This film definitely tackles numerous of the bleaker issues in today’s day and age, but unlike other movies that tackled them, this film knows how to give hope through the bleakness.
For example, earlier this year we had the movie Eddington. Eddington was a film that came out in the summer that took place in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. It starred many current A-listers such as Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, and Austin Butler. It bombed massively at the box office despite its star power. That film is a perfect representation of its time, but that was a double-edged sword, taking place during the time many of us wish we could forget.
This movie doesn’t fall into that trap. It offers the viewer hope. It’s Paul Thomas Anderson saying that in today’s world we shouldn’t run from our problems. We should face them head on, and that’s really comforting.
This is easily my pick for 2025’s greatest film, and this will also probably go home with both a best picture and best director Oscar. I wouldn’t call this PTA’s greatest movie. That’s more a testament to how great of a director he is than any knock against this movie.This film is one of the most staggering achievements in cinematography, pacing and acting of its time.