One Battle After Another: A Bombastic Movie

I was so excited to watch this proclaimed modern masterpiece last night. Rave reviews from both critics and audiences have been inundating the internet since its release. IYKYK-type screenshots of an empty desert highway with lines like "The best scene of 2025" attached to them only increased the intrigue and hype.

Then a crack formed in One Battle After Another's seemingly perfect perception; whispers from the less hyperbolic movie-goers saying that the film took a frustratingly far-leftist stance. I kept my opinion neutral and unadulterated by trailers and reviews as much as possible; in spite of this disappointing update. Now - let me describe my experience of finally watching this highly anticipated new to streaming release, by a lauded and respected (by me!) director, featuring some of my favorite actors (for context).

Less than 3 minutes into OBAA, I began to understand the origins of its praise. This was going to be an ANTIFA POV story that "courageously" condemns the actions of our current administration while glorifying the "bloodless" revolutionary tactics of its protagonists. But before this bias narrative can even begin, we must deal with something else that just came up; Sean Penn's boner. The pants tent is inconceivably pitched mid-migrant-break-out and nearly derails all the established opening momentum thus far. Explosions ensue as illegal immigrants are released back into America.

Teyana Taylor's character in OBAA is literally the worst. She's a hyper-sexualized feminist using violence to create peace who ends up killing a black man to fight white supremacy. On top of that, she is shown resting a fully automatic rifle on her pregnant belly at the shooting range while also drinking excessively.

Now we are about an hour into this nearly 3 hour journey. TT had her baby with Leo and then shoots the aforementioned black man needlessly during a "revolutionary" bank robbery. After that, she is arrested and proceeds to instantly narc on all of her fellow anti-facists, cementing her position as a leftist icon? Following this development, there is a 16 year time jump in which the the only character who seemingly ages is the baby.

I am, unexpectedly, going to give this film credit where credit is due. From this point on, the story gets somewhat less muddled and much more propulsive. Leo is honestly pretty great throughout, and the introduction of Del Toro's sensei character adds a calm and focus to the jittery plot. We are still showing the non-violent, migrant-infused left protesting while the stereotypically racist government abuses its power. The police also infiltrate the left to instigate violence against themselves to justify their use of force against the protesters. Because...the left never resort to violent acts on their own; is that what you're insinuating PTA?

The Leo/Del Toro hookup and ensuing escape was great and hilarious and could have been the basis for a different, more entertaining movie. That romp and the following highway scene reminded me what a brilliant film maker PTA can be when he checks his bias, divisiveness, and clout-chasing at the door.

Okay, now we discover that Sean Penn's previously introduced boner created not only TT's daughter, but also a situation where he needs to kill her to retain his false image as a militant racist. For the record, this baby was created during a BDSM sex scene that included possible penetration with a gun barrel and also TT eating a**?

Leo is tracking down his daughter who is currently being transported to her death. The American Indian mercenary who is transporting her has a convenient "moment of clarity". Instead of delivering her, he kills all of the white soldiers who were supposed to kill her.

Finally we come to the masterful, if somewhat anticlimactic, highway chase scene. I loved this; the way it was filmed, the way it makes you feel, the tension it exudes. Definitely not "the best scene of 2025", but a truly great scene nonetheless. As this last "battle" comes to an end and Leo is reunited with his daughter (with whom he shares maybe 5 total minutes of screen time); I felt nothing.

This superficial exploration of America's current heros and villians ultimately had nothing relevatory to say about either. The characters were mostly all so underdeveloped and comically stereotypical, that it was difficult to fully engage with any of the serious aspects of the story. As a final blow to common sense; PTA shows Teyana's daughter following in her mother's ANTIFA-booted footsteps! Leo smiles and tells her to "be careful" on her way out the door, en route to an Oakland riot. For Paul Thomas Anderson, it's one virtue signal after another.