Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another mocks Donald Trump policies, while exploring racial tensions and white supremacy, and features standout performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Sean Penn. Read the review.
Bengaluru: Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest flick One Battle After Another is what Inglorious Bastards is to Quentin Tarantino. But instead of the gore and blood, we get humour, humour and more humour aimed at US President Donald Trump’s inhumane policies on immigration, abortion among other things. The story follows a washed up revolutionary played by Leonardo DiCaprio who is forced to change his identity and relocate after his wife gets killed during a vigilante movement. But unlike other Hollywood films, the main role of the lead is not to protect his family but the desperate attempt to be united with them. The film is based on the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon.
In One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t shy away from exposing the darker undercurrents of American masculinity. Through biting satire and moments of unsettling comedy, the film critiques the historic and ongoing perversion of white American men towards Black women. The violence that is often masked by narratives of “desire” but rooted in power, domination, and racial hierarchy is exposed without dehumanising any of the characters. The film threads this obsession with a broader commentary on purity culture, showing how institutions like the Ku Klux Klan glorified racial segregation.
Immigration, Abortion Key Themes
Paul Thomas Anderson has long been one of America’s most inventive and daring filmmakers, each of his films pushing boundaries of style, tone, and subject matter. His breakout film Boogie Nights explored the rise and fall of the porn industry with both empathy and irony, setting the stage for his fascination with flawed characters caught in turbulent systems. Magnolia expanded that ambition into an emotional mosaic, weaving together multiple stories of pain, coincidence, and redemption. With There Will Be Blood , PTA cemented his reputation as a master of the American epic, crafting a searing portrait of greed and power through Daniel Day-Lewis’s towering performance. The Master delved into postwar America’s spiritual hunger, drawing parallels to cults like Scientology, while Phantom Thread shifted gears into gothic romance, exploring obsession, control, and intimacy in lush period detail. Even Licorice Pizza, seemingly lighter, was suffused with his trademark exploration of relationships under the pressure of history and culture.
PTA sharpens his satire by directly attacking Donald Trump’s most controversial policies, particularly on immigration and abortion. In one scene, a member of the vigilante group played by a stellar Teyana Taylor takes the route of direct action against a politician who enacted anti-abortion laws. Chase Infiniti’s character picks up the mantle from Teyana Taylor with remarkable assurance, continuing the fierce, dynamic presence she establishes in the film’s first half. Where Taylor embodies raw militancy and defiance, Infiniti channels that same fire into a younger, more restless energy, showing how resistance mutates across generations but never loses its urgency. Sean Penn’s Colonel Lockjaw is the film’s most grotesque creation. He becomes a chilling embodiment of white supremacist authoritarianism. Usually, films that are this politically charged often becomes technically weak. However, Michael Bauman’s cinematography and Jonny Greenwood’s calm background score makes each scene extremely pleasant to see.
Verdict
One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson in peak form—wild, funny, and unafraid to jab at America’s rawest nerves. By reimagining Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland for today, he delivers a film that’s as entertaining as it is politically sharp. the mix of biting satire, absurd humor, and lush visuals keeps you hooked. Should you watch it? Absolutely. It’s one of those films that entertains throughout, but holds a mirror to the times we live in. The reflection may take some time to settle in.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the organization. Readers are encouraged to form their own judgments and interpretations of the film.