One Battle After Another (2025)
Boomer makes a political thriller.
Presentation:
This is one of my favorite films of 2025. I have to take back what I said about this year of cinema as studios release their best at the end of the year for maximum profitability and Oscar recollection. PTA makes a 130 million blockbuster and opts for an epic political thriller with awesome action and comedy. Anderson has a very unique voice focusing on story and character arc. That’s what makes it so fascinating that he decides to make an action epic popcorn thriller. He’s not typically known for cinematography opting to film closeups for the majority of his films, but the presentation here is impressively visceral. Those minivans bouncing down the street reminded me of Nolan’s blockbusters. The beginning of the film is not particularly strong. The soundtrack is questionable and the presentation is flat. It definitely ramps up suddenly in the second half and I ended up loving the quirky contemporary soundtrack. This is a very different very Paul Thomas Anderson kind of cinematic and he graduates to Vistavision, IMAX and ultra wide lenses. If you’ve watched Boogie Nights or his other films you can feel the underlying DNA. I felt as though it was like a really good episode of Breaking Bad, like if the climatic Ozymandias episode was 3 hours long. There will probably be concerns about Antifa glorification but honestly this film is so ridiculous I can’t imagine how it would stop you from enjoying this.
Conclusion:
The main problem with this film is there is not really a lot of story. It’s about a failed revolutionary but everything happens so fast that we don’t have time to really develop their motivations like Anderson normally does. This is because it’s more humorous and designed to have more broad appeal. At first you think, PTA isn’t pulling this off and this feels like a weak old guy is trying to be hip. By the second half you realized what a treasure he is, able to adapt his scriptwriting into the modern era. It’s such a pleasure to have difference voices and perspectives in directors and make no mistake, PTA has a very unique style. I think the political ideology and villains are questionable but I really couldn’t take it that seriously. I mean come on, Junglepussy and semen demon are hilarious. PTA has my respect as a flexible storyteller and he yet again delivers one cinematic experience after another.
Recommendations
Boomer makes a political thriller.