Anderson had wanted to adapt Vineland for years, and eventually incorporated several of his own stories into the narrative whilst writing the screenplay.[7][8] The film was shot in California using VistaVision, becoming one of the first films to use this format for principal photography since the 1960s.
One Battle After Another had its world premiere in Los Angeles on September 8, 2025, and was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 26.[9] The most expensive film of Anderson's career, One Battle After Another received widespread critical acclaim, grossing $204 million on a $130–175 million budget and becoming the highest-grossing film of Anderson's career. One Battle After Another was nominated for nine awards at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, receiving the most nominations of any film.
Plot
"Ghetto" Pat Calhoun and Perfidia Beverly Hills are members of a far-left revolutionary group, the French75. While breaking out detained immigrants from Otay Mesa Detention Center, Perfidia sexually humiliates the commanding officer, Steven J. Lockjaw, who afterward becomes obsessed with her. Pat and Perfidia become lovers. When Lockjaw catches Perfidia planting a bomb, he releases her after she agrees to his demands to have sex with him.
After Perfidia gives birth to a girl named Charlene, Pat tries to persuade her to settle down. Perfidia, overcome with postpartum depression, instead abandons them to pursue her revolutionary activities. She is caught after murdering a security guard in an armed bank robbery. Lockjaw arranges for her to avoid prison in exchange for the whereabouts of the key French75 members. Perfidia enters witness protection while Lockjaw hunts down her comrades and executes them. Pat and Charlene take the aliases Bob and Willa Ferguson, while Perfidia escapes to Mexico.
Sixteen years later, living off-the-grid in the sanctuary city of Baktan Cross, California, Bob has become a paranoid stoner. He is protective of Willa, now a free-spirited teenager who resents his drug habits and paranoia. Through his vehement anti-immigration efforts, Lockjaw has become a colonel and a prominent figure within the US security agencies.
When Lockjaw is invited to become a member of the Christmas Adventurers Club, a far-rightwhite supremacists group, he seeks out to kill Willa to hide his past interracial relationship with Perfidia. He hires Avanti Q, an indigenous bounty hunter, who captures Howard Sommerville, which results in activating a distress signal to the remaining French 75.
Lockjaw sends troops to Baktan Cross using an immigration and drug operation as cover. Deandra, of the French 75, rescues Willa before her school dance is raided. High at home, Bob is warned by the French 75 about Lockjaw, whose men then raid his house.
Escaping through a tunnel, Bob tries to alert the resistance but forgets the password. Sergio St. Carlos, Willa's karate teacher and community leader, helps him evacuate immigrants via a hidden passage. While fleeing with Sergio's students across rooftops, Bob falls and is caught. Deandra takes Willa to a convent of revolutionary nuns, where she discovers her mother's betrayal.
The Christmas Adventurers find evidence of Lockjaw's relationship with Perfidia, and send Tim Smith to kill him and Willa. Lockjaw locates Willa at the convent, where Deandra is arrested. Holding Willa hostage, he tests her DNA in front of her, confirming she is his daughter and making him ineligible for the Christmas Adventurers Club.
Sergio arranges Bob's escape and drives him to the convent, throwing him out before police stop him. Bob steals another car and reaches the convent, but fails to kill Lockjaw with Sergio's rifle. Lockjaw hires Avanti to kill Willa, but after refusing over her age, Avanti is told to deliver her to a far-right militia. Tim tracks Lockjaw and shoots him in the face, causing him to crash and leaving him presumed dead. Bob finds the crash site while searching for Willa.
Avanti delivers Willa to the militia, but after a change of heart, frees her and is killed in a shootout with the militia. Willa takes Avanti's car and pistol and drives off along the nearby desert highway in escape, only for Tim to begin tailing her, with Bob frantically trying to catch up. Willa eventually lures Tim into a crash by exploiting a blind summit. She shoots him dead when he fails to recite the revolutionary countersign. Bob arrives and finds Willa; disoriented by the lies she has discovered about her family history, Willa demands the countersign at gunpoint, but Bob convinces her to stand down. The two tearfully reunite and drive away. Lockjaw is revealed to have survived the attempt on his life.
A severely scarred Lockjaw is seemingly welcomed into the Christmas Adventurers, but he is fatally gassed and cremated shortly afterwards. Returning home with Willa, Bob gives her a letter from Perfidia, where she apologizes for her actions and vows to reunite with the duo soon. A short time later, Bob gives his daughter his blessing as she departs for a protest in Oakland.
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio as "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun / "Rocketman" / Bob Ferguson, a washed-up former member and explosive device expert of a revolutionary group known as the French 75
Sean Penn as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, military leader of Mankind United (MKU) who pursues the French 75
Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos, Willa's Karatedo teacher and a leader of the undocumented community in Baktan Cross
Regina Hall as Deandra / "Lady Champagne", a French 75 member
Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills, a French 75 member, Willa's mother and Pat's partner
Chase Infiniti as Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun, Bob and Perfidia's daughter
Anderson had considered adapting Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland (1990) for years, but struggled, believing his love for the novel would get in the way of his ability to fairly rework it. Instead, he set aside the idea of an adaptation, and wrote a series of separate stories. One Battle After Another emerged as a combination of those stories with some elements of Vineland, particularly the father-daughter dynamic.[7][8]
Principal photography began in California on January 22, 2024.[14][15][16] The film, under the working titleBC Project, filmed for eleven days across Humboldt County in Arcata, Cutten, Eureka, Kneeland and Trinidad.[17][18] Local experts, including the Sisters of the Valley, on which the Sisters of the Brave Beaver in the film was based, were consulted.[19] Anderson and his crew attended the prom at Eureka High School to make observations about music and fashion trends; students were cast as extras for a key scene.[20] On February 3, production moved to Sacramento, with filming at the Sacramento County Administration Building and Sacramento County Courthouse.[21] A homeless encampment was cleared to allow for filming, sparking controversy.[22] The former Sacramento mansion of then governor Ronald Reagan served as exterior shots for the Christmas Adventurers' Club headquarters.[19]
The film was shot by Michael Bauman on 35 mm movie film using VistaVision cameras, marking his second collaboration with Anderson, following Licorice Pizza (2021).[30][31] Between 75-80% of the film was shot on VistaVision.[32] Actor Giovanni Ribisi is thanked in the film's end credits for allowing the production to use VistaVision cameras that he had personally restored.[7][33]
Post-production
In February 2024, Variety reported that the film had been greenlit with a $115million production budget.[34] In August 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported the budget was "more than $140million", noting that Anderson's highest-grossing film, There Will Be Blood (2007), only made $76million, but that "Warner executives say DiCaprio's box-office track record justifies the budget for Anderson".[35] That month, sources indicated the film had been titled The Battle of Baktan Cross as rumors circulated that it was loosely inspired by Pynchon's Vineland; Anderson previously adapted Pynchon's Inherent Vice (2009) into a feature film in 2014.[36][37] By August 2025, Variety reported the film's final budget as $175million, while Warner Bros. said it cost $130million.[38] The film is the most costly of Anderson's career.[39]Deadline Hollywood reported that below the line, on-location shooting in California cost $101.6million, with a tax credit of $8.4 million.[40]
Beginning in January 2025, the film had multiple test screenings, which reinforced the rumored connection to Vineland.[41] It marked the first time since Boogie Nights (1997) that Anderson agreed to audience testing; based on the feedback, he cut eight to ten minutes.[42] The film's title was confirmed in March, with Warner Bros. debuting a teaser.[43][44]One Battle After Another marks Anderson's sixth feature film collaboration with the composer Jonny Greenwood,[45] and the sixth with Anderson and first assistant director and producer Adam Somner, who died in November 2024; the film is dedicated to Somner.[46][47]
The score was composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, recorded with the London Contemporary Orchestra and conductor Hugh Brunt. It was released by Nonesuch Records on September 26, 2025.[48] The film also features two songs by Jon Brion,[49] marking Anderson and Brion's first collaboration since Punch-Drunk Love (2002).[50]
Release
VistaVision presentation at Vista Theater
The film was released on September 26, 2025, following previews from September 24.[51] It is the first of Anderson's films to be released in IMAX.[52] It was previously set to be released on August 8, 2025, but was moved for a potential awards season run.[42][53] The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on September 8, 2025, and had a global tour beginning in London on September 16, in Mexico City on September 18, and ending in New York City on September 21.[54][55] The film also screened at Fantastic Fest on September 23, 2025.[56]
One Battle After Another was released on digital on November 14, 2025, and will be released on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on January 20, 2026.[58][59]
Reception
Box office
As of December5,2025[update], One Battle After Another has grossed $71 million in the United States and Canada, and $133 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $204 million.[2][3][60]The film ended up being a box office bomb,[61][62] falling short of its estimated $300 million break-even point.[63]
In the United States and Canada, One Battle After Another opened in 3,634 theaters, the widest release for a film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and his first film to debut in wide release.[64][65] It made $8.8 million on its first day, including $3.1 million from Thursday previews.[66][65] It earned $22 million over the weekend, topping the box office and handily marking the best weekend for a film directed by Anderson, topping the $4.9 million earned by There Will Be Blood in its fifth weekend in 2008.[67][68] In its second weekend the film grossed $11 million (a drop of 50%), finishing second behind newcomer Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl.[69]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 416 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "An epic screwball adventure teeming with awe-inspiring action set pieces, One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson's most entertaining film yet while also one of his most thematically rich."[71]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 95 out of 100, based on 63 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[72] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on its A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak rated the film four-and-a-half out of five stars, with 74% of audiences saying they would "definitely recommend" it.[67]
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote that One Battle After Another "is a timeless story of resistance, one that playfully weaves together influences as broad-reaching as the true story of Weather Underground and cinematic depictions of rebellion, but it's also a remarkably propulsive, fun, and eventually moving piece of work about the human beings caught up in the chaotic machine".[73]Justin Chang of The New Yorker called the film "a father-daughter epic, with an unusually personal gush of feeling. You can count on one hand the number of scenes that Bob and Willa share, but their connection—a swirl of protectiveness, exasperation, and fiercely unconditional love—binds the movie and its madly whirling parts together."[74] Katie Walsh of the Chicago Tribune called the film a "searing indictment of this particular moment in American history" by which "Anderson balances the sprawling, conspiracy-minded aspects of this yarn with the intimate father-daughter story, which is the heart of the matter".[75]
Writing for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis called the film "a carnivalesque epic about good and evil, violence and power, inalienable rights and the fight against injustice; it's also a love story. The film speaks to the failures of the past and of the present but insists on the promise of the future."[76]Richard Lawson of The Hollywood Reporter stated One Battle After Another is "a furious film, a richly engaging and persuasive polemic" in which "Anderson shows a previously unseen aptitude for action and suspense; One Battle After Another is, essentially, a thriller, albeit one teeming with enormous ideas about the collapse and possible rescue of the country".[77] Alex Saveliev of Film Threat opened his review by writing that the film "demands to be seen on the largest screen possible to fully absorb the 35mm VistaVision experience with every cell of your body. Everything about it is grand: its characters, its action sequences, its timely sentiments, even the quieter moments."[78]
Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, was effusive in his praise of the film. He celebrated the "riff on the now recognisable Anderson-Pynchonian idea of counterculture and counter-revolution", praised the score by Jonny Greenwood, and pondered if the "central paternity crisis triangle [is] an image for an ownership dispute around the American melting-pot dream?" Bradshaw awarded the film five stars.[79] Actress Jennifer Lawrence was widely cited calling One Battle After Another "the best movie I have ever seen!"[80][81][82]
The performances of the cast were highly praised. Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote "Anderson knows that the quality that liberates DiCaprio is comedy. By having him play Bob as a dissolute stoner addict, discombobulated by his loss of faith, he humanizes DiCaprio and coaxes a great performance out of him."[83] Tallerico of RogerEbert.com felt DiCaprio gives a "carefully modulated" performance, but he nevertheless singled out Sean Penn's performance as "his best work in years", stating he "flexes his muscles, grits his teeth, and growls his lines, but somehow threads the needle between truth and caricature".[73] David Sims of The Atlantic opined: "Penn, giving a brilliant performance of cold villainy that could win him a third Oscar, is unafraid of lancing the inherent goofiness of a fascist. DiCaprio plays Bob as a sweetheart rather than a buffoon; he's a tired, strung-out antihero made weary not by his yearslong efforts to fight back but by the relentlessness of the world."[84] David Ehrlich of IndieWire praised "magnetically self-possessed newcomer/instant movie star Chase Infiniti, whose performance inspires a strange kind of secondhand pride". He also singled out the performances of Taylor and Penn, calling the former "eruptive [...] steaming with revolutionary zeal" and the latter "career-best".[85]
William Bibbiani of TheWrap was less enthusiastic, describing the plot as scattershot, unfocused, overly long, and the film's themes as shallow, writing: "[Anderson] is more interested in taking cheap potshots at the film's real-world analogues than actually exploring them."[86]Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal similarly noted the film is "big and brash. Rangy in tone, style and theme, it has so much going on that a single viewing hardly seems sufficient to absorb it all. Whether it's a masterpiece or a hodgepodge will be a matter of some discussion; the reach is evident but the grasp is a little shaky."[87] Author Brett Easton Ellis also criticized the movie, calling it "not a very good movie", claiming that the movie was receiving positive reactions "because it really aligns with this kind of leftist sensibility".[88] Right-wing commentators have criticized One Battle After Another for its sympathetic portrayal of violent antifascist revolutionaries, especially in the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the 2025 Dallas ICE facility shooting, both of which happened after production on the film was completed.[89]
British film magazine Sight and Sound named One Battle After Another the best film of 2025 in its poll of over 100 international critics.[90] It was also ranked 1st in "The Best Films of 2025", "The 20 Best Movies of 2025", and "The 25 Best Movies of 2025" lists from The New Yorker,[91][a]Rolling Stone[92] and IndieWire,[93] respectively. David Fear, writing for Rolling Stone, called the film a "thundering, dizzying epic" and "a timeless tale about revolutionaries taking care of their own while getting the next generation to pick up the flag".[92] Fear also highlighted the performances of Penn and Taylor in his list of the "17 Best Movie Performances of 2025".[94]
↑Critic, Kevin Maher, Chief Film (December 8, 2025). "Golden Globes nominations 2026: has Wicked been snubbed? Our critic's verdict". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved December 9, 2025. This unashamed veneration, alas, arrives with a bittersweet kick and an awareness that One Battle After Another, which was budgeted at roughly $160 million, has failed at the box office and effectively became the flag-bearer for a torridly poor year of commercially underwhelming "movies for grown-ups" (see also The Smashing Machine, Roofman).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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