Countdown to Oscars 2026
One Battle After Another (2025) – 8/10 – Fast-paced, ambiguous narrative that thrills
Overall
One Battle After Another is an action drama that merges thriller and dark humor elements. If you follow American politics closely, the film’s parallels to recent politics are striking, including a DHS agent (Colonel Lockjaw). Even if unintended, the times are such that comparisons remain unavoidable. The screenplay, which took director-writer Paul Anderson twenty years to write, isn’t particularly rich in depth. My takeaway is that some battles have no end. Whether the battles are of a personal or societal nature remains ambiguous. It may be a combination or one left to your interpretation. Second, certain decisions made as a young adult often carry into later years. This film surprisingly has thirteen Oscar nominations. Though a solid flick, I cannot go beyond a few nominations. 2025 wasn’t a strong movie year, so that is understandable.
Would I recommend this?
Yes, but it’s not essential. This is best enjoyed for the entertainment and thrill. Don’t obsess over the ambiguous messages or superficial themes. The revolutionary dimension is reminiscent of the 1966 French cinema The Battle of Algiers, a film I watched two years ago depicting Algeria fighting for freedom from colonial France. Each side resorted to violence, and it’s difficult to take sides. $175 million dollar budget was the highest of Anderson’s career, but it became a flop at the theaters. Since then, global earnings have almost doubled the budget. My rating is 8/10.
Plot (spoiler-free)
A former radicalized revolutionary, Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), lives off the grid with his teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). He isn’t involved in the fight anymore, toiling away the years in marijuana and alcohol. Things go awry when DHS Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) comes looking for Willa for personal reasons. Bob’s old pals re-enter the picture to aid Willa. Bob and Lockjaw race against time to find Willa, each with high personal stakes.
Technicals
The best aspects were the performances, direction, score, cinematography, amazing camerawork, and pacing. I found the movie unpredictable, wondering constantly what’s next. That speaks to a well-written, thrilling script. The energetic background music and pacing kept the narrative flowing through action-packed sequences. Perhaps the music tone became too much sometimes, but it contributed to the tense atmosphere. The chase scenes and the camerawork through them are excellent. Filming took seven months across countless locations in California and El Paso, Texas. If you remember anything about this work, it’ll likely be the car chase scene. I don’t know how they filmed those remarkable shots. The cast, headlined by DiCaprio and Penn, is incredible. No issues on the performance side, but many supporting characters lack development, such as Benecio Del Toro’s character. Considering the film’s length, I think their priorities should shift or begin slashing scenes.
I’ll divulge several more issues. First, the editing could be tighter. It occasionally meandered, and editing could have fixed that. The narrative lacks the complexity for a 2.5 hours runtime when two is ample. Second, the story and presentation intrigued me from the start, but I didn’t know what to draw from it. The motives remained unclear. I won’t say it glorifies violence, but it pushes into that territory. That’s where today’s relevance wanes because, thankfully, the recent protests against the government have lacked violence and bombs going off (even though the rhetoric says otherwise). I didn’t find enough in this experience to make it memorable. Third, the dark humor sometimes felt unnecessary and at other times jarring. It was unsuitable for the overall atmosphere built. Often I view serious movies that incorporate humor, and I understand the aim is to lighten the mood. It doesn’t always work.
*Obtained trivia facts from IMDb’s trivia page and plot/basic history/name information from Wiki
