Paul Thomas Anderson’s tenth film in his widely regarded and revered filmography finally sees the filmmaker collaborate with Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor who has the rare mixture of box office appeal and award calibre gravitas, in One Battle After Another, a rather timely story that is as entertaining and thrilling as it is politically and socially charged, with a lot to say.
DiCaprio is Bob Ferguson, a paranoid stoner who 16 years ago was involved with the French Seventy-Five, a radical group of revolutionaries who went to extreme lengths to take down their tyrannical enemy – the United States elites. Freeing illegally detained immigrants, robbing national banks, and destabilising government institutions led to Bob meeting Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyonah Taylor), a fierce and relentless revolutionary who stopped at nothing to get her message across. Bob and Perfidia’s connection led to marriage, and eventually a child together, Willa (played in her teenage years by Chase Infiniti).
However, after attempting to escape after a robbery, Perfidia is detained and entered into the witness protection program by the racist, sexist, and unsettlingly tense Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), leaving the French Seventy Five to believe it was Perfidia who ratted out her crew, causing Bob to run away with Willa, who for her entire life, is never told that her biological father is actually Colonel Lockjaw, whose abuse of power, which he mistakes for a kink he has for black women, leads to Willa’s conception.
16 years later, Lockjaw’s attempt to join a straight, white, male, elitist secret society that praises him for his sadistic military exploits, causes him to tie up his only loose end – Willa’s existence. And for the first time in 16 years, Bob must weaponise his old team of revolutionaries to get his daughter back.
Shot on VistaVision (like The Brutalist last year), PTA uses literal cinematic scope to enhance and enliven this bold, riveting, rapid, and impactful story that balances being a politically driven thriller and a touching exploration of a father and daughter’s love. And in classic PTA fashion, these subjects are explored with a wicked and entertaining sense of humour, with a sense of comedy akin to his previous works like Phantom Thread and Punch Drunk Love.
On a technical level, One Battle After Another is truly mesmerising. The grainy film look captures a feeling of nostalgia that runs thematically throughout the film, with characters like Bob and Lockjaw constantly looking back to glory days and the past. But, the enlarged picture and high definition quality of filming in VistaVision also exacerbate the phenomenal set design and set pieces. There is a true grandiose sense of scale within every scene of this film, making it feel like an authentically cinematic experience. Frequent PTA collaborator, composer Johnny Greenwood, also livens the experience with a pounding and abrasive score that arguably should be considered as some of his best work yet.
This is also PTA’s most blockbuster type film, with extended, exhilarating action set pieces, including riots, shootouts, and a thrilling car chase that takes place on the winding, hilly country roads that is nail-biting. The action in One Battle After Another is as big as the themes it is exploring, which works tonally, but also allows the movie’s 160-minute runtime to absolutely fly by.
It’s uncannily timely that this story is commentating on the detainment of immigrants into the United States, the racial vilification from white elitists, and the paranoia felt by citizens that they’re government doesn’t have the best intentions of the people in mind. It’s obvious that PTA is angry at the state of his country, and that is channeled through the justified ferocity of Perfidia Beverley Hills, played with an equal amount of electricity by Teyonah Taylor. PTA smartly uses a satirical approach to dissect these issues, not just because it might be an easier pill to swallow for some audiences, but it highlights some of the genuine, malicious absurdity behind the hatred and vilification. Some of the film’s biggest laughs (and sighs) come from the absolutely wild things that come out of the mouths of the film’s villains.
That’s not to say there isn’t a good amount of comedy sprinkled everywhere else, because DiCaprio channels a Wolf of Wall Street style energy into his take on Bob Ferguson, once again giving an award worthy mixture of physical and dialogue driven humour. But, when the emotional stakes come to the fold, there is an authenticity he brings to Bob the father that is gripping, and feels completely removed from Bob the paranoid stoner, and even Bob the revolutionary.
But, the two standouts, and most likely candidates for awards chat later in the year, is Chase Infiniti, who is pure electricity every time she is on screen, and Sean Penn, whose pure physical intensity and vocal gruff as Lockjaw is captivating – you’ve never seen a man walk so damn stiff before. There is a pure gravitas to each of these performances that is spell-binding, and when the two get an extended scene together later in the film, their antagonistic chemistry lends to one of the film’s best moments.
It’s hard to compare One Battle After Another to the rest of PTA’s filmography, because he is one of the great modern directors who has an ability to immerse audiences into a wide spectrum of cinematic worlds. This may not be the best film in his line of work, but it’s still a brilliant piece of art, utilising jaw-dropping technical cinema and weaponising high-calibre performers to tell a riveting and timely story in a wildly entertaining way.
One Battle After Another is in Australian cinemas September 25.
