'One Battle After Another' Review: Paul Thomas Anderson’s Latest is a Timely, Furiously-Paced Masterpiece
- Dan Bremner
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
By Dan Bremner - September 18, 2025
The latest film from acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely adapting Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland. As a massive PTA fan (with There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights sitting comfortably among my all-timers), this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year. The fact that Warner Bros. handed PTA a frankly irresponsible $150m+ budget for this project still doesn’t quite compute, but the gamble has paid off spectacularly. What Anderson has created here is at once his wildest, most experimental, and most uncommercial studio epic, yet somehow also his most accessible, fast-paced, and laugh-out-loud funny film to date. This isn’t just a career high, it might genuinely be the best film of the year, and possibly of his career.
Leonardo DiCaprio headlines as Bob, a paranoid ex-radical whose world is as disjointed as his train of thought. What’s remarkable here is DiCaprio leaning far harder into comedy than expected, channelling a jittery, stoned, erratic energy while still grounding Bob in a loving, fatherly center. He makes Bob sympathetic without sanding down his paranoia and eccentricities. The role is layered, lived-in, and constantly teetering on the edge of absurdity without collapsing into parody. As strong as DiCaprio is, Sean Penn blows in like a hurricane and all but steals the film. Playing Bob’s grotesque nemesis, Penn is unhinged, menacing, disgusting, and ludicrous in all the best ways. His twitchy physicality, absurd swagger (with a macho walk like he’s perpetually constipated), and psychotic bravado make him one of the most outrageous villains in recent memory. Every time he’s on screen, the film kicks into a higher gear and it's impossible to take your eyes off him.
Of course, this wouldn’t be PTA without a supporting cast that elevates the material even further. Chase Infinity’s Willa brings strength and nuance to a role that could have been overshadowed in a daughter role that goes through the ringer, while Benicio del Toro, playing a dojo instructor with more secrets than techniques is an absolute riot in his smaller role. Even bit parts feel fleshed out, lending the world a vibrancy that prevents it from ever feeling like spectacle for spectacle’s sake. This is a maximalist epic, but one firmly rooted in character work. Each side character, no matter how fleeting, adds something to the texture, whether it’s tension, levity, or a brief emotional grounding.
Visually, One Battle After Another is a feast. Shot in 35mm VistaVision, the film is saturated with texture, rich colouring, and a physicality that feels tactile on the big screen. Anderson and DP Michael Bauman craft one extraordinary image after another, from sprawling landscapes that swallow Bob whole to claustrophobic interiors vibrating with paranoia. The set-pieces are especially staggering: a car chase worthy of comparison to The French Connection (shot with the same relentless immediacy), a rooftop sprint rendered in several unbroken long takes, and sudden bursts of violence that feel spontaneous yet meticulously choreographed. It’s kinetic filmmaking at its finest, but never incoherent or indulgent. Anderson orchestrates chaos with precision, keeping the three-hour runtime brisk and endlessly watchable.
Balancing Comedy with Heart and Commentary
It’s one of the funniest works in PTA’s filmography, loaded with gags and moments so audacious I couldn’t believe a studio actually allowed them. But it’s not all anarchic comedy as Anderson anchors the madness with a surprisingly wholesome heart. At its core, this is a story about family, resilience, and teaching the next generation to push for a better tomorrow. Its commentary on the exploitation of civilians, militarization, and systemic overreach lands with cutting precision, making it not just timely but uncomfortably relevant. In a cultural climate saturated with toothless blockbusters, One Battle After Another has the nerve to swing hard at contemporary issues while still entertaining on a massive scale.
Jonny Greenwood’s score is another triumph. After years of moody, atmospheric work, Greenwood cuts loose with a jazzy, energetic blast of sound that matches the film’s manic energy beat for beat. The score propels scenes forward with a sense of urgency, accentuating paranoid spirals, manic arguments, and frenetic chases. It’s playful yet tense, and like the best PTA–Greenwood collaborations, it feels inseparable from the images on screen.
This is also Anderson’s most potent statement yet. It’s about reckoning with the past, fighting authoritarian overreach, and the exhausting cycle of resistance “one battle after another,” as the title grimly suggests. Yet it refuses to wallow in despair. Bob’s relationship with Willa offers hope, a chance at renewal, and a belief that teaching the next generation differently can break the cycle. In that sense, the film feels both timely and timeless, rooted in the struggles of today but resonant as a broader human story.
It’s also worth noting how different this feels from Anderson’s earlier, less accessible works, particularly his other Pynchon adaptation, Inherent Vice. That film, while fascinating in its own right, was meandering, alienating, and deliberately obtuse. One Battle After Another shows Anderson applying his love of Pynchon to something far more cohesive, entertaining, and approachable without losing any of his ambition or artistry. It’s still mad, still bursting with ideas, but this time it’s packaged in a way that audiences can follow without feeling excluded. It’s rare to call a PTA film “accessible,” but this one is as crowd-pleasing as it is uncompromising.
A Studio Epic That Feels Vital and Uncompromising
One Battle After Another is outrageous, hilarious, visually stunning, and emotionally charged, a rare studio epic that feels vital, and completely uncompromising. PTA has somehow turned a $150m Pynchon adaptation into both a propulsive crowd-pleasing major studio release packed with heart, action, an incredible cast and one of the best paced near-3 hours in history. One of the best of 2025 and ranks among the top of Anderson's legendary career.
'One Battle After Another' releases in cinemas September 26
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