Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a wild ride and Leonardo DiCaprio is leading the charge

Paul thrives in tonal collisions, and here he manages to fuse pulp action with philosophical reflection. The desert car chases are filmed with a nightmarish clarity, recalling films of Alejandro Jodorowsky in their hallucinatory intensity. Yet amid the chaos, the film never loses sight of its core: the father-daughter bond. Leonardo delivers a performance of raw panic and bruised devotion, often disheveled in a dressing gown but radiating a desperate love for his child. Yes, he will be a big name in the upcoming awards season.

Chase Infiniti, in her first film role, matches him note for note, injecting sharp wit and defiance that prevents the dynamic from becoming sentimental. Sean Penn, meanwhile, makes Col. Lockjaw a grotesque yet magnetic antagonist, his every twitch and leer amplifying the unease. And Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia is a force of nature—both idealistic and destructive, blazing through the film like a Molotov cocktail.

Technically, the film is exhilarating, too. Paul’s long-time collaborator Jonny Greenwood provides a jingling-jangling, nerve-tightening score that amplifies the manic energy. The film’s mix of satire, absurdity, and genuine political anger keeps it unpredictable and compulsively watchable.