What’s it about?
A washed-up revolutionary and his daughter are forced to go on the run when they become the target of an old enemy.
What’d we think?
Opening with a raid on an immigration detention centre by a revolutionary group calling themselves French 75, we’re introduced to revolutionaries Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), his paramour Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyona Taylor), and the central antagonist of the piece Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). The birth of the couple’s child Willa coincides with the downfall of the French 75, the scattering of the surviving revolutionaries, and the ascendance of Lockjaw. Sixteen years later, Willa (now played by newcomer Chase Infiniti) has become a level-headed and driven young woman, while Bob has become a hapless burnout. For reasons best discovered for yourself, Col. Lockjaw develops a renewed interest in finding the two, and let’s just say things escalate from there.
This is a deeply political movie, an unflinching look at the things that America has done to itself in service to the military-industrial complex and the rhetoric of the American Dream. It’s also a straight-up hilarious movie, accentuating exchanges of surreal dialogue with blunt-force slapstick and masterful physical comedy. It’s somehow also an incredible action-thriller, with cat and mouse games being played for the highest stakes, impressive set pieces, and an absolutely exceptional car chase (hell, more than one). It’s hard to put into words just how well the film manages to occupy vastly different and even opposing tonal spaces, sometimes simultaneously.
Paul Thomas Anderson is at the top of his game as a writer and director, and while Leo is doing some of his best work the real stars are Chase Inifiniti and Sean Penn. Inifiniti delivers the best debut film performance of any actor in recent memory, not just holding her own against some experienced heavyweights but absolutely dominating them at times. Sean Penn is the best he’s ever been, and that’s a pretty high bar. His portrayal of Lockjaw is terrifying, complex, incredibly hilarious, and guaranteed to net him a few statues.
One Battle After Another grabs your attention and doesn’t let go, making an incredibly timely and serious statement in in a gripping, hilarious, and exceptionally entertaining way. It’s an impossble miracle, a genuine masterpiece, and about as close as a movie can get to being essential viewing.
