Anderson had wanted to adapt Vineland since the early 2000s and, eventually, incorporated his own stories into the narrative while writing the screenplay.[14][15][16]Principal photography took place in California from January to June 2024 using VistaVision, becoming one of the first films to use the format since the 1960s. Following its premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on September 8, 2025, One Battle After Another was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 26.[1] With a budget of $130–175million, it is the most expensive film of Anderson's career. It grossed $208million worldwide, underperforming at the box office but emerging as Anderson's highest-grossing release.[3][17]
"Ghetto" Pat Calhoun and Perfidia Beverly Hills are lovers and members of a far-leftrevolutionary group, the French75. While breaking out detained immigrants from Otay Mesa Detention Center, Perfidia sexually humiliates the commanding officer, Steven Lockjaw, who becomes obsessed with her. When Lockjaw catches Perfidia planting a bomb, he lets her go after she agrees to his demand to later meet him for sex.
After Perfidia gives birth to a girl named Charlene, Pat tries to persuade her to settle down, but she instead abandons Pat and Charlene to continue her revolutionary activities. She is arrested after murdering a security guard during an armed bank robbery. Lockjaw arranges for her to avoid prison in exchange for details on key French75 members. Perfidia enters witness protection, while Lockjaw uses the information she provided to hunt down and summarily execute her comrades. French75 member Howard Somerville gives Pat and Charlene stolen identities as Bob and Willa Ferguson, while Perfidia flees witness protection for 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 substance abuse, and he has led her to believe Perfidia was a hero. Through his anti-immigration efforts, Lockjaw has become a colonel and a prominent figure within the U.S. security agencies. When Lockjaw is invited to become a member of the Christmas Adventurers Club, a white supremacistsecret society, he seeks to kill Willa to hide his past interracial relationship with Perfidia. He hires bounty hunter Avanti Q to capture Howard, causing a distress signal to go out to the French75.
Lockjaw sends troops to Baktan Cross, using an immigration and drug operation as cover. French75 member Deandra rescues Willa before her school dance is raided and takes her to a convent of revolutionary nuns, where she is told the truth about her mother's betrayal. At home, Bob is warned by the French75 about Lockjaw, whose men then raid his house. Escaping through a tunnel, Bob is helped by Sergio St. Carlos, Willa's karate sensei and a community leader, who also evacuates immigrants via a hidden passage. After learning about the convent from another French75 member, Bob flees with Sergio's students across rooftops but falls and is arrested.
The Christmas Adventurers find evidence of Lockjaw's relationship with Perfidia, including the possibility that he had a child with her, and send member Tim Smith to kill him and Willa. By tracing her phone, Lockjaw locates Willa at the convent, where Deandra is arrested. Holding Willa hostage, he tests their DNA in front of her, confirming she is his daughter. Sergio arranges Bob's escape and drives him to the convent, throwing him out of the car when police begin to pursue them so Bob can get away. Bob steals a car and reaches the convent, unsuccessfully attempting 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 instead. Tim tracks down Lockjaw and shoots him in the face, causing his car to crash and leaving him presumed dead. Bob finds the crash site while searching for Willa.
Avanti brings Willa to the militia, but after a change of heart, frees her and is killed in a shootout with the militia. Willa escapes with Avanti's car and pistol, only for Tim to begin tailing her as Bob tries to catch up. Willa lures Tim into a crash by exploiting a blind summit, shooting him dead when he fails to recite the revolutionary countersign. Bob arrives and finds Willa, who demands the countersign at gunpoint, but Bob convinces her to stand down. They tearfully embrace and Bob drives them away, while Lockjaw is revealed to have survived.
Some time later, a severely scarred Lockjaw is seemingly welcomed into the Christmas Adventurers Club, but is fatally gassed and cremated shortly afterward. Returning home with Willa, Bob gives her a letter from Perfidia, in which she apologizes and vows to some day reunite with her family. Later, Bob gives Willa 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 French75
Sean Penn as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, a corrupt military officer who pursues the French75
Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos, Willa's Karatedo sensei and a leader of the undocumented community in Baktan Cross
Regina Hall as Deandra / "Lady Champagne", a French75 member
Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills, a French75 member, Willa's mother and Pat's partner
Chase Infiniti as Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun, Bob and Perfidia's daughter
Paul Thomas Anderson had considered adapting the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon since the early 2000s, but struggled, believing his love for the novel would get in the way of his ability to fairly rework it. Instead, he set aside working on an adaptation, and envisioned two ideas: one about an "action car-chase movie" and one about a "female revolutionary". One Battle After Another emerged as a combination of those two stories with some elements of Vineland, particularly the father-daughter dynamic.[14][15][16]
On February 3, production moved to Sacramento, with filming at the Sacramento County Administration Building and Sacramento County Courthouse.[42] A homeless encampment was cleared to allow for filming, sparking controversy.[43] The former Sacramento mansion of Governor Ronald Reagan served as exterior shots for the Christmas Adventurers Club's headquarters.[40]
Bauman revealed that Anderson wanted something in the "vein of '70s cinema", pointing to films like The French Connection (1971) and The Last Detail (1973), explaining that this "stylistic roughness" was "essential" for Anderson in telling the story.[56] According to Bauman, VistaVision "was a response to television that some of the studios were developing. And instead of it being four-perf vertical, like a normal 35 millimeter camera, this takes the film and puts it eight-perf horizontal, which allows for a much bigger negative space. Each frame is twice the size. And so it's a much richer image". The format was ideal for capturing some of the action sequences in the film, particularly the final car chase sequence.[56] Bauman further admitted that it was a challenge to figure out how to "blend the richness of VistaVision" to make One Battle After Another "look like a '70s type of film that felt like a lot of the scenes out of The French Connection". He pushed VistaVision to its limits while using and testing it, saying, "This camera system hadn't really been used at this quantity of film because we shot about 1.5million feet of film for the project [and] hadn't had that kind of level of film run through it in a long time [...] It really underscores the power of shooting on film and what VistaVision is as far as projecting it. It's really a super resting image that has a strong emotional feel to it. The ability to experience that by going to the theater is really unique."[56]
Regarding the impact and location of the climactic car chase, Bauman said, "The sequence is really a testament to the location being the driving force. When Michael Glazier, the location manager, originally found it, he found it almost like by accident when he was driving after he found the location for the 1776 camp."[57] To figure out how to capture the scene's "dynamic energy", Bauman and his team worked with Allan Padelford, a veteran stunt coordinator and second unit director best known for designing high-octane car-chase action sequences, and his Padelford Camera Car.[57] For the film's color and lighting, Bauman said both he and Anderson referred to the work of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) as inspiration. Bauman also revealed that he and Anderson carried a print of The French Connection with them since they "were always screening film dailies", adding, "Sometimes it was just like, hey, it's time to have a little review, just to make sure your visual palette was in the same direction."[58]
Actor Giovanni Ribisi is thanked in the film's end credits for allowing the production to use VistaVision cameras that he had personally restored.[14][59][60]
Post-production
Editing was completed by Andy Jurgensen, who had previously edited Licorice Pizza.[61] As a frequent collaborator of Anderson's, Jurgensen knew how to best be "fluid" in his work on the film to match his director's sensibilities. Discussing the final car chase sequence, Jurgensen said, "It was shot over a number of days and there really weren't storyboards for it, [Anderson] just had ideas for the beginning, middle, and end. It was really a matter of shooting the cars from the different perspectives [...] We just had to make sure we had all the pieces. I did a string out of all the different perspectives as we were shooting the scenes so that we made sure that we had good moments from all the angles, then it was finding the best bits and starting to assemble. It was just a long sequence going through all of Willa's shots of her eyes, looking at both the rear-view mirror and the side view mirror looking behind at the reflections. You're just slowly kind of whittling down the best fits."[62]
Additionally, Jurgensen was on location and got to view dailies with Anderson on a vintage VistaVision horizontal projector, which they borrowed from Warner Bros. "I was the only one traveling from editorial, and then I could supervise setting up the screening room and be there for all the screenings, which was really helpful", said Jurgensen. "And then while they were shooting, I also brought my computer system, getting digital dailies and making more notes, assembling stuff. You're with the crew and it's just so much better. You understand what everyone's going through and you're part of the process. But that's Paul's style."[63]
In February 2024, Variety reported that the film had been greenlit with a $115million production budget.[64] 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".[65] 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.[66][67][68]
By August 2025, Variety reported the film's final budget as $175million, while Warner Bros. said it cost $130million.[3] The film is the most costly of Anderson's career.[69]Deadline Hollywood reported that below-the-line, on-location shooting in California cost $101.6million, with a tax credit of $8.4million.[70] By September 2025, Variety reported that an additional $70million was spent on marketing.[71]
Beginning in January 2025, the film had multiple test screenings, which reinforced the rumored connection to Vineland.[72] 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.[73] There was also a report that Warner Bros. was working with Anderson to make the best, most commercial version of the film, but didn't ask for radical changes.[74] "We trimmed it down and that was just our normal process", Jurgensen said. According to Jurgensen, Anderson doesn't like to test his films, but it was something that Warner Bros. requested. Anderson partially agreed to the test screenings because he wanted to know if it played well as a comedy, and, as Jurgensen said, "There are some sensitive things in the movie, both racial things and political things. It was going to be interesting for us to test it in different parts of the country." Jurgensen also added that the tests confirmed that "the humor was working. And luckily, it did confirm, when you're kind of trying to figure out, 'How can we push it a little further? How can we do things?'"[74] He further noted that the studio was not trying to enforce an ultimatum and didn't pressure them to cut anything, stating, "They were supportive. I think the test screenings helped us because they were reacting so well to it."[74]
The film's title was officially confirmed in March 2025, with Warner Bros. debuting a teaser trailer.[75]One Battle After Another marks Anderson's sixth feature film collaboration with composer and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood,[76] and the sixth with Anderson and first assistant director and producer Adam Somner, who died in November 2024; the film is dedicated to Somner.[c]
The marketing campaign for One Battle After Another cost $70million.[71] On March 27, 2025, DiCaprio launched his own YouTube channel with the debut of the teaser trailer.[75] The second trailer for the film was released on July 24, 2025.[86] That same day, a video announcement, via the One Battle After AnotherInstagram account, revealed the film was coming to Fortnite Creative on September 12.[87][88][89] Additionally, posts on Twitter that applied meme templates to out of context clips from the film were released.[90] Multiple film critics and news outlets found the marketing to be "confusing" and "unusual".[d] Dana Nussbaum, Warner Bros. Pictures co-head of global motion picture marketing, defended this approach to promoting the film, saying, "Every campaign must be bespoke and you have to quickly shift based on what the audience is telling you", adding, "The audience moves really fast and you have to be moving at the same pace."[95]
The film was released on September 26, 2025, following previews on September 24.[96] It is the first of Anderson's films to be released in IMAX.[97] The film was previously set to be released on August 8, 2025, but was moved for a potential awards season campaign.[73][98][99] It premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre 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.[100][101] The film also screened at Fantastic Fest on September 23, 2025.[102]
Streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, which monitors daily updated VOD charts and streaming ratings across the globe, reported that One Battle After Another became the most-streamed film on HBO Max within the first four days of its release in December 2025. The film also ranked as the No. 1 film globally on the streaming service as of December 23.[111]
Reception
Box office
As of January29,2026[update], One Battle After Another has grossed $72million in the United States and Canada, and $136million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $208million.[4][5][112] The film ended up being a box-office disappointment,[113][17][114] falling short of its estimated $300million break-even point.[115][116][117]
In the United States and Canada, One Battle After Another opened in 3,634 theaters, the widest release for a film directed by Anderson and his first film to debut in wide release.[118][119][120] It made $8.8million on its first day, including $3.1million from Thursday previews.[121][119] The film earned $22million over the weekend, topping the box office and handily marking the best weekend for a film directed by Anderson, topping the $4.9million earned by There Will Be Blood in its fifth weekend in 2008.[70][122] In its second weekend, the film grossed $11million (a drop of 50%), finishing second behind then-newcomer Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl.[123]
Critical response
Initial reactions were overwhelmingly positive, with critics calling the film a "masterpiece".[e]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 434 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."[128]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 95 out of 100, based on 63 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[129] 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.[70]
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".[130]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".[131] 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".[132]
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".[133]Richard Lawson of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that 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".[134]
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 35 mmVistaVision experience with every cell of your body. Everything about it is grand: its characters, its action sequences, its timely sentiments, even the quieter moments".[135]Peter Bradshaw, awarding the film five stars and writing for The Guardian, was effusive in his praise. He celebrated the "riff on the now recognisable Anderson-Pynchonian idea of counterculture and counter-revolution", praised the score by Greenwood, and pondered if the "central paternity crisis triangle [is] an image for an ownership dispute around the American melting-pot dream".[136]
The performances of the cast were also highly praised.[f]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."[145] 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", saying he "flexes his muscles, grits his teeth, and growls his lines, but somehow threads the needle between truth and caricature".[130] 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."[146]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 Penn and Taylor, calling the latter "eruptive [...] steaming with revolutionary zeal" and the former "career-best".[147]
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."[148]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".[149]
Some took issue with its handling of racial themes, particularly regarding the character of Perfidia Beverly Hills (played by Taylor). Those with objections expressed the ways in which they believed Perfidia is sexualized by two white men (DiCaprio and Penn's characters, the latter a white supremacist), and opined that the character was overly sexualized and a sex criminal.[148][150][151] In November 2025, Taylor rejected these critiques, stating: "Is that not what Black women go through. We are fetishized [...] and we are, unfortunately, the least protected people. Showing what Black women go through, that's a hard reality to accept. And this movie should spark debate, I always knew it would, because sometimes you just got to shake the table."[152] In January 2026, Taylor reiterated and shared further thoughts toward the criticism, mentioning that the topic came up during a previous interview. "Another person interviewed me and mentioned something about Perfidia and how people felt like she was overly horny. And I'm like, do you realize the first thing we see of Perfidia is her having a gun to a guy's head, and he calls her 'sweet thing'? Are you — are we watching the same film?", Taylor questioned. From her perspective, Taylor felt Perfidia was weaponizing her sexuality against her enemies, saying, "Perfidia kind of dived into the, 'Oh, you think I'm hot? All right, bet. Cool if I get to still do what I'm doing'." She also explained that the decisions Perfidia makes in the film are done out of her struggle to survive, saying, "It will never be a moment of judgment, because a lot of her mistakes have come from her being in survival mode dealing with postpartum depression and the title of being a strong woman—a strong Black woman. We don't get the same amount of compassion as everybody else. We don't get the same amount of grace as everybody else. Everybody just assumes we're okay."[153]
Additionally, right-wing commentators have criticized One Battle After Another for its sympathetic portrayal of violent anti-fascist 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 wrapped. The commentators on the right, far right, and alt-right have also accused it of being a "left-wing" film made for left-wing elites.[154][155][156] Gleiberman highly disagreed with the debate and criticism, writing, "Part of the power of One Battle After Another is that it is not, in fact, a left-wing movie, it's important to recognize how that misperception has been fed by a lot of people on the left [...] I think a lot of the attitude of the entertainment media has been to reflexively treat One Battle After Another as if the film itself were raising a revolutionary fist — and as if there were something 'left-wing' about attacking authoritarianism. There is not."[156] While the film has no direct reference to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), authority is shown as unpredictable, militarized, and with the power to destabilize entire neighborhoods.[157] Many critics and news outlets have agreed that those aspects have come to feel incredibly "timely".[g] According to Sara Murphy, one of the producers of the film, the January 2026 Minneapolis protest shootings and killings by ICE agents have made the film "devastatingly" timely.[157] "I don't think we could have anticipated just how close to home it would be", Murphy said, adding, "It's hitting an audience in their core. I think it is reflective of the world that we're living in today, but I think, hopefully, it is also an optimistic take on how we can continue to fight for the things that are important to us and find peace in community. I hope the takeaway is one of optimism." She also hopes the film's success encourages more studios to invest in "risky" projects similar to One Battle After Another, adding, "Original films are not usually done at this level [...] I think it feels like a big, good-time movie. I hope that, first and foremost, people are enjoying themselves."[157]
Industry response
During a post-screening panel discussion with Anderson, moderator and fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg highly praised the film, calling it "insane" and "really incredible", adding, "This is such a concoction of things that are so bizarre and at the same time so relevant, that I think have become increasingly more relevant than perhaps even when [Anderson] finished the screenplay, and assembled [the] cast and crew, and began production."[124][166][167]
In November 2025, actress Jennifer Lawrence declared One Battle After Another "the best movie [she's] ever seen" and "the most incredible movie [she's] ever seen in [her] entire life", adding that she "can't remember a time where [she] ever had an experience like that in the cinema".[172][173][174]
Year-end lists
The British film magazine Sight and Sound named One Battle After Another the best film of 2025 in its poll of over 100 international critics.[175]Film Comment, the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center, also polled One Battle After Another as the best film of 2025, writing that the film is "paranoia-driven" with "pulsating action sequences" that "illustrate not ideology but rather the infrastructure of allegiance".[176]IndieWire's annual critics poll of "The Best Movies of the Year" voted One Battle After Another as the best film of 2025, with a final result of 573 points; 101 of the 148 critics who voted in the survey had it somewhere on their Top 10 ballots, while 43 of those 101 mentions were #1 picks.[177] By the end of 2025, IndieWire also reached out to 50 filmmakers and surveyed what their favorite films of the year were, with 20 participants singling out One Battle After Another as one of their favorites. Some of those included were Fede Álvarez, Olivier Assayas, Clint Bentley, Oliver Laxe, and Michael Mann; Laxe called the film "a testament to the excess of our times, on every level".[178]
In his list of "The 20 Best Movies of 2025", David Fear of 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".[179] Fear also highlighted the performances of Penn and Taylor in his list of the "17 Best Movie Performances of 2025".[138] Taylor was also named in the "25 Best Movie Performances of 2025" list by The Hollywood Reporter.[140]Mark Guiducci of Vanity Fair wrote that "there is much to love about the 10th film from Paul Thomas Anderson, but Taylor is at the top of the list", as Taylor appeared in the publication's year-end list of the best performances of 2025.[139] Also, Penn's villainous portrayal of main antagonist Col. Steven J. Lockjaw was considered and ranked by multiple critics as one of the best villain performances of 2025.[180][181][182][183][184] Lockjaw has also been compared to real-life United States Border Patrol agent Gregory Bovino, whose aggressive tactics have drawn backlash and controversy.[185][186][187]
In December 2025, Collider's William Smith ranked it 9th on his list of the "10 Greatest Movie Masterpieces of the Last 10 Years", calling it one of "the most imminent" and "entertaining" films of 2025, and adding that its "righteous indignation" and "bold politics" feel "particularly pointed and appropriate for the current state of America".[188] Diego Pineda Pacheco, also writing for Collider, ranked it 8th on his list of the "10 Greatest Movie Masterpieces of the 21st Century", writing, "PTA has been delivering masterpiece after masterpiece since the '90s, but this one truly does feel like the epitome of his career, an artistic achievement unlike any other he's made before [...] One Battle After Another is full of fascinating characters and exceptional performers making it an enthralling dramedy packed with exquisite creative choices."[20] The film also ranked 1st on the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times' list of "The Top Movies of 2025, According to Times Readers".[189] Additionally, One Battle After Another appeared on former President of the United StatesBarack Obama's annual list of his favorite films of the year; though not ranked, the film appeared at the top of the list.[190][191][192]
One Battle After Another appeared on more critics' annual "best of" lists in 2025 than any other film, including the most 1st-place votes.[193] According to CriticsTop10.com, it was included on 686 lists with 195 ranking it at the top spot.[194]
One Battle After Another garnered awards and nominations in a wide assortment of categories, with recognition for its direction, screenplay, performances, cinematography, editing, score and sound design, among others.
12Pacheco, Diego Pineda (December 5, 2025). "10 Greatest Movie Masterpieces of the 21st Century, Ranked". Collider. Retrieved January 1, 2026. PTA has been delivering masterpiece after masterpiece since the '90s, but this one truly does feel like the epitome of his career, an artistic achievement unlike any other he's made before.
↑Maher, Kevin (December 8, 2025). "Golden Globes nominations 2026: Has 'Wicked' been snubbed? Our critic's verdict". The Times. Retrieved December 8, 2025. This unashamed veneration, alas, arrives with a bittersweet kick and an awareness that One Battle After Another, which was budgeted at roughly $160million, has failed at the box office and effectively became the flag-bearer for a torridly poor year of commercially underwhelming 'movies for grown-ups'.
12Bibbiani, William (September 17, 2025). "'One Battle After Another' Review: Leonardo DiCaprio Lebowskis His Way Through the Revolution". TheWrap. Archived from the original on September 17, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025. Perfidia is a charismatic figurehead and an insatiable sex addict, which to Anderson makes her dangerously irresponsible. Worse, she's also a sex criminal who forces the right wing Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw to pleasure himself at gunpoint during a raid.
↑Jones, Ellen E (September 30, 2025). "Jezebels, race kink and Cardi B: in 'One Battle After Another', Black women are still stereotypes". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2026. Sadly, it seems – with regard to the intersection of race and gender, at least – [Anderson]'s bitten off more than he can chew. This begins with the character of Perfidia, who is hyper-sexualised way beyond the normal horniness that firework-lighting in the company of late-era Leonardo DiCaprio might arouse. This is a woman who prioritises getting off over getting away from an imminently exploding bomb.
↑"The 50 Best Films of 2025". Sight and Sound. December 5, 2025. Retrieved December 5, 2025. Zipping frenetically from one set piece to the next and incorporating a dizzying array of film types – from heist gone wrong to romantic melodrama to satirical comedy to chase thriller – Paul Thomas Anderson's incendiary portrait of modern America is the worthy winner of this year's poll.
↑"Best Films of 2025". Film Comment. December 11, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025. The film's paranoia-driven, pulsating action sequences illustrate not ideology but rather the infrastructure of allegiance—the signals, lingo, plans, and solidarity that sustain any embattled collective. Willa, after witnessing all the double-crossing, doubt, and sacrifice, still chooses to join the cause—now that's a message worth salvaging.
↑Blauvelt, Christian (December 15, 2025). "2025 Critics Poll: The Best Movies of the Year, According to 148 Critics". IndieWire. Retrieved December 15, 2025. What's remarkable about such praise for one film is how far-flung the critics who voted in our poll really are: Yes, the majority by far is still from the U.S. or Canada, but six continents are again represented this year — even if the number of voters in this survey continues to decline each year as more and more critics leave the industry.
↑O'Falt, Chris (December 30, 2025). "50 Directors Pick Their Favorite Films of 2025". IndieWire. Retrieved December 30, 2025. Not surprisingly, filmmakers loved many of the same movies that have dominated critics' top 10 lists: One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Sentimental Value being the most frequently mentioned titles.
↑Mathai, Jeremy (September 26, 2025). "'One Battle After Another' Features the Best Movie Villain of 2025 (And It's Not Even Close)". SlashFilm. Retrieved January 22, 2026. The disturbing psychology and hypocritical motivations driving [Lockjaw's] every action transform him into a relentless force of nature [...] Anderson and Penn have crafted one of cinema's most horrifying, repelling, and downright real bad guys in recent memory.
↑Dubiel, Bill (October 3, 2025). "Sean Penn's Col. Lockjaw: A Masterclass in Villainy in 'One Battle After Another'". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 22, 2026. However incredible the rest of the cast is, Oscar-winner Sean Penn manages to make the most lasting impact. As the primary antagonist in the proceedings, Penn manages to dominate the screen with a complex, layered performance that is equal parts menace and pitiful. The end result is a villain that sticks with you long after you leave the theater, especially given his relevancy to America in its current state.
↑Gaughan, Liam (December 16, 2025). "The 10 Best Movie Villains of 2025". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved January 22, 2026. Penn isn't afraid to make Lockjaw into a broad character who makes ridiculously self-aggrandising comments, but the fact that someone of his erraticism could feasibly be in a position of influence is quite distressing.
↑Lee III, Robert (January 8, 2026). "10 Greatest Movie Villains of 2025, Ranked". Collider. Retrieved January 22, 2026. For all the terrible things that [Lockjaw] does throughout the film, he never stops being deeply compelling to watch, being a layered character quick to abandon all morals and commit countless despicable acts to achieve his goals.
↑Meenan, Devin (January 15, 2026). "5 Best Movie Villains of 2025, Ranked". SlashFilm. Retrieved January 22, 2026. Penn's performance, playing a character built to inspire only mockery and scorn, is a courageous one.
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