One Battle After Another (2025)
What happens after you retire from your radical politics but the radical politics has not retired from you? A story that perhaps Paul Thomas Anderson was not qualified to tell but handled with as much grace as can be expected from a civilian. Critical of radical leftist politics while still giving us a socialist antihero in DiCaprio.
Imagine if the 2022 "How to Blow Up A Pipeline" had deeper characters, double the run time, world class acting, a healthy dose of black comedy, and less political commentary. I.e. an actually fun movie instead of a leftist fever dream. That's this movie.
The movie doesn't have much to say moral wise. It's a character drama, and comedy, between a father and his daughter primarily. There is no great lesson and this movie will not move you. But it taps into the ethos of our time.
As the star of right wing fascism is ascendant, where is the counterbalance of radical leftism as depicted here? Can such fervor be whipped up? Is it a good idea at all? Only time can tell.
The movie brings up these questions but doesn't purport to deal with them. It is focused on you having a raucous good time. That you will have.
Perhaps it could have been 15 minutes shorter.
Otherwise a remarkable movie.
Edit: the WH was not a fan. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/
Originally published on Letterboxd. Browse all film reviews.