The hype train was already driving forward at an insane speed when I sat down to watch “One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest.
The reviews had been near-unanimous: not only is this the best of the movie year, with Oscar sweeps projected by the “experts” (DiCaprio aiming for his second, PTA for his first), but some were already calling it the defining movie of the decade. Numerous critics claim it to be a “masterpiece.”
In this day and age of instant online gratification, calling a movie a “masterpiece,” the moment it premieres, is usually premature. Films need time to breathe, be discussed, and analyzed before we can fairly judge their impact or staying power. Instant praise often inflates expectations and obscures the subtleties that emerge over repeated viewings. Those who toss the term around so casually might reconsider once they revisit a film, though, of course, there are times when their initial judgment was spot on.
Naturally, I went into PTA’s latest with my expectations in check—there’s just no way it could live up to that level of hype. And yet, 162 minutes later, I stumbled out dazed. Is it flawless? Not even close. Is it brilliant? Numerous stretches certainly are. It’s formally unlike anything I’ve seen before.
This thing is part road movie, part screwball comedy, part action spectacle, part satire, and entirely outrageous. It opens with a literal bang—a migrant detention center raid by a rogue group known as “French 75”—and from there it rockets into absurdist chaos. DiCaprio leads the ensemble as Bob, aka “Ghetto Pat,” a paranoid ex-activist in hiding. Teyana Taylor is Profidia, the firebrand who once gave Sean Penn’s Lockjaw a boner while pointing a gun to his head — he’s a deranged ex–white supremacist cult leader. Their affair triggers obsession, paranoia, and pregnancy.
Sixteen years later, we’re in the dusty town of Baktan Cross, where Bob still fears Lockjaw, now a soon-to-member of the bizarre white-only “Christmas Adventurers Club,” complete with background checks and carols. The madness doesn’t let up: Regina Hall’s Deandra hides Lockjaw’s secret teenage daughter while both men think the other has her. Benicio del Toro steals scenes as Sensei Sergio, a karate instructor doubling as a child smuggler, in a jaw-dropping half-hour set piece where he orchestrates elaborate escape routes while Bob fumbles around in panic—underscored by Johnny Greenwood’s gorgeous piano-tinged score.
Add in weed-growing nuns, a detective tailing Lockjaw, riots, fireworks, car chases, and one nemorable line (“I’m fucking Tom Cruise!”) during a high-speed pursuit, and you have a movie that practically dares you to keep up. This isn’t “There Will Be Blood” or “The Master”; it’s PTA veering into comedic absurdity and Fear and Loathing–style anarchy.
Shot in VistaVision with select IMAX sequences, the cinematography is a thing of beauty—golden-hour landscapes clashing with handheld insanity. DiCaprio is in peak form as a strung-out buffoon in cheap sunglasses and a dirty red-striped robe. Sean Penn, meanwhile, delivers a looney but terrifyingly committed turn - he deserves his third Oscar for his work here.
This is a messy, modern film, and PTA even ventures into heartstring territory—something I thought he was allergic to—using a sentimental father-daughter story to anchor the madness. Is it his best work? No. His worst? Not even close. It’s the kind of film that can be dumb and brilliant at the same time, ambitious to the point of delirium. It’s not seamless, but that only adds to its fascination. Even after two viewings, I’m still sorting through its ideas and images, weighing what worked and what didn’t, while holding on to the breathlessly memorable moments. Few filmmakers today are as talented as Anderson, and even fewer could deliver a vision this distinctive.
Which brings us to the danger: the hype. This film could be undone by its own reputation. Seeing “One Battle After Another” blind must have been a real thrill; by now, it arrives with suffocating expectations. Still, hype or not, Anderson has pulled off something audacious here: a gonzo, screwball epic that won’t be for everyone, but it’s impossible not to admire the sheer lunacy of it.