One Battle After Another (2025)

 

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti, Benicio Del Toro. 161 min. Thriller/Comedy.

• Paul Thomas Anderson has been one of the most influential directors of our time. His Boogie Nights (1997) was perfectly able to capture the '70s mood, and his There Will be Blood (2007), The Master (2012) and Phantom Thread (2017) were all among New York Times' recent list of "100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" (TWBB coming in at 3rd place). The curious point is that Oscar-wise, P.T. Anderson has always gone home empty-handed. With his new movie, that may change this year.
• The appropriately-timed One Battle After Another happens in a not-too-distant future, where in a caricature setting, extreme liberalism is coming into a final clash with extreme conservatism. Vigilante groups are no longer being silent towards systematic xenophobia, and secret ultra-right societies are mounting counter-attacks to squash the resistance. Leonardo DiCaprio is one anarchist, who with his daughter (newcomer Chase Infiniti) is on the run from Col. Steven Lockjaw (with an unforgettable performance by Sean Penn), who himself has questionable motives in his pursuit of the father-daughter pair. Saying anymore would dampen the fun of watching this strangely plotted but very fluid and engaging movie. 
• OBAA will be this year's major Oscar contender. While Anderson will finally break his spell in both Best Picture and Best Director categories, Penn as Lockjaw is also a lock-in (no pun intended) for his third Oscar, and surprise wins may go to Infiniti, DiCaprio, or Benicio Del Toro. This may sound like blasphemy, but this was the first time I "believed" in DiCaprio's performance; he felt like a real, unexaggerated character. And you'll find how powerful this movie's soundtrack is, especially after a second viewing, and especially during that incredibly-shot climactic car chase scene at the end. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.    

MoGo's rating: 9/10