'One Battle After Another' review: Leonardo DiCaprio rejects a white Christmas in Paul Thomas Anderson's thriller

Warner Bros. Pictures

Semen demons shall wait, you must handle a few comedic bits and Bobs first. One Battle After Another has all of those things, including Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) who's a member of the far-left revolutionary movement called French 75 alongside his girlfriend Perfidia (Teyana Taylor). They're known for targeting immigration detention centres (read: concentration camps) as well as other institutions for environmental, political and anti-capitalist reasons. Perfidia finds herself in a p(r)ickle when she's caught by colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a military officer hunting down French 75, and in exchange for her freedom, they have sex. Later, Bob and Perfidia welcome a baby daughter, Willa. Perfidia soon returns to revolutionary activities whilst Bob prefers to stay home. Lockjaw catches her again after a bank robbery, she gets witness protection in return for ratting out other members, but she also ends up escaping to Mexico.

The action thriller, which is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and "inspired" by Thomas Pynchon's novel 'Vineland', then fast-forwards 16 years. A shadow of his former self, Bob has become a rotting alcohol and drug abuser, and he's living a quiet life in the woods with Willa (Chase Infiniti). Unlucky for them, Lockjaw has risen through the ranks. He uses his status and manpower to track them down because he suspects that he's her biological dad. Her being biracial is a problem for him since he's trying to join Christmas Adventurers Club, a far-right, white supremacist agency with connections to the United States' leadership. Bob and Willa must outsmart Lockjaw and his underlings; this may require embracing old habits.

Major bouncebacks are always a real delight to witness and that is certainly the case with Anderson who may have hit a next-level career low before "OBAA". Everything seems to have turned around full 180 degrees, from the very first few choices to the decisions made on set and in the edit. The picture is well-cast, the acting is actually superb again, the story has something to say, the filmmaking has a massive amount of ambition behind it; literally everything is different and, as a result, better. But that's not all because the movie in general is a surprising swerve for the helmer. It's a thrilling, muscular, propulsive, weighty and technically impressive burst of heat radiating off the silver screen. It moves at a breakneck pace. The energy is intoxicating. You can really feel the creatives enjoying making a movie at this level.

In terms of the content, it becomes a tale about progression and regression. The U.S. military and fascists obviously prefer the latter with their inhumane anti-immigrant actions and embrace of white supremacy that built the broken system in the first place back in the day, and French 75 prefers to keep all that in history books instead of the country's future. Bob is also a reflection of laziness and complacency that halts progression and gives leeway to regressive ideologies. Unless he's presented with a challenge (like protecting his daughter) or he makes the effort to stay active, he'll end up being behind the times and using the r-slur just like the bigots on the other side, or he poisons his mind with substances that will extinguish the fire inside him. It's important to raise the next generation of rebels, and Willa is a prime example of Bob doing something right, but it doesn't mean that you have to stop listening when they have something to teach you.

Beyond characters either looking for progression or wanting to stay put or go back in time, the film is essentially a father-daughter story with the classic "save-your-daughter" trope employed, mixed with a revenge and car chase thriller, but Anderson's script finds ways to present them with new angles. Willa's characterisation and arc are thankfully more complex and intelligent than you'd initially expect, but it's the dark humour and satire that will probably be one of those elements that will decide if you're on the film's wavelength or not. Some of it might be a bit undercooked on a first watch or less effective on a rewatch, but the screenplay definitely drops some absolute zingers, whether it's making fun of the white supremacists or it's Bob being out of practice.

Timeliness is also one crucial aspect about the film that will undoubtedly get people to connect with it more. The aforementioned detention centres/concentration camps, military's overreach and the far-right, xenophobic rhetoric behind them very much reflect modern-day America and Israel; the attack on minorities' rights and well-being reflects America, Hungary and United Kingdom; and the desire to suppress, silence and censor humanistic voices reflects America, Germany, Israel and Russia and United Kingdom. OBAA's latter half is also timely in the sense that classic activism can also take pointers from the new generation and their tools. The current situation in Nepal springs to mind as their form of revolution against corruption and censorship was driven by platforms like Discord—you can only hope that the good people in countries mentioned above use those pointers in order to stand on the right side of history.

Another possible breaking point for viewers may be the acting, which swings for the fences at times. Penn's performance is the riskiest one, but I certainly found it compelling, bold, darkly funny and callous, which made Lockjaw utterly abhorrent. Infiniti serves as a refuge from the madness with her (comparatively) less-is-more acting style, but she does get her big moments towards the end and knocks them out of the park. Benicio del Toro (as Willa's karate teacher Sergio St. Carlos) shows up in a nicely implemented bit role that doesn't overstay its welcome, and neither does Regina Hall's turn as Bob's old pal Deandra.

Taylor is a proper firecracker in the film's opening, although Perfidia being a rather one-note character does eventually make the actor's early exit less affecting. DiCaprio is another player making a few massive choices, and sometimes they do take you out of the story and just remind you that you're watching an actor who himself hasn't progressed in his craft in recent years because of the very few projects he's chosen to do haven't been good fits or otherwise fruitful. Still, DiCaprio's comedic timing is on point, as is his physical demeanour, and he's actually correctly cast compared to the his last role, which helps a ton.

While the dark comedy and some of the acting might be a hurdle for some audience members, the craftsmanship should not be. Michael Bauman's cinematography is exciting and dynamic when it comes to movement and composition, notably in a certain car chase, but the spaces and faces are lit beautifully as well. Cassandra Kulukundis' casting is excellent, as is Andy Jurgensen's editing, which supports the story's energy with its musicality, working in tandem with composer Jonny Greenwood's score. All the car stuff and action set pieces have proper grit to them, and they're amplified by effective sound editing and mixing, which understands something most American movies nowadays don't: that gunshots, explosions and other sounds of sudden violence should feel shocking. You know, it's just nice to see a film where cars and violence look and feel real, and therefore dangerous or awful depending on the situation.

As you can tell, there's so much interesting stuff along the way, but Anderson does stumble somewhat towards the end when it's time to wrap things up. Lockjaw's arc is the main problem here as Anderson keeps putting hats on a hat—one hat after another?—and when combined with about five shots that could've been the final shot after the filmmakers already found a perfect one, the "grand finale" tests your patience. It's like the director couldn't decide which specific feeling should be the one you're wrestling with when walking out, and so he opted to throw everything at the wall. None of them really stick unfortunately. Thankfully, if one decides to watch or rewatch the movie, there's enough greatness to chew on before these nitpicks emerge.

Smileys: Cinematography, Sean Penn, sound editing, screenplay

Frowneys: Ending

[Deleted scene] Willa queueing up in Fortnite: "It's just one battle royale after another."

4.5/5

Where to watch:

This article may contain affiliate links, which means that we may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Thank you for the support!