One Battle After Another Review: Fast Paced Thriller Clearly Becomes One of 2025's Best

Legendary filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson teams up with Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, a film that has become one of the highest rated films of all time on most platforms. Does it live up to the hype?

Synopsis:

Bob (DiCaprio) is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.

Cast:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyanna Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall

Release Date: In Theaters Now

Incredible Pacing Makes Runtime Fly By

Credit: Warner Brothers

For the more casual moviegoing fan, the almost three hours runtime for One Battle After Another may be intimidating. However, I'm here to say that the pacing was absolutely the best aspect of this entire movie. That runtime flys by and there was no point where I was checking to see how much time was left. There's not a single boring minute in this entire film and it really feels more like two hours rather than three. At the end of the day, this really speaks to the unbelievable directing and writing from Paul Thomas Anderson. There's so many storylines, characters and themes going on at once, but PTA still manages to create a script that doesn't feel messy in any way. There's really no single storyline that is left unsolved or undercooked and that really speaks to the unreal screenplay.

Although the writing really is noticeably great, I was equally impressed with Anderson's direction. There's a lot of sequences in here that are high-paced and intense, making the audience's heart rate elevate at many points throughout the runtime. The thing about this film is that almost 75-80% of the movie consists of these extended sequences. If not done correctly, this is a trope that can get really exhausting when it's coming in a non-action movie, but this film does it to absolute perfection. The film has its slow moments when it needs to, but those fast moments are a wild ride and you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time. Even the opening scene is a gut punch right off the bat and it's just so well done in every way. Emotion, tension, humor and fear. Every single theme you could possibly think of is brought to the forefront throughout this entire movie and it really speaks to the filmmaker behind it all.

Every Performance Is A Standout

Credit: Warner Brothers

This film is full of great performances from both new and old faces. Starting with the names we know, Leonardo DiCaprio is on point as always. This is a role that's somewhat unlike anything he's ever done before, due to the hilarious nature of his character. He plays him out as a bit of a loser, but there's also heart and emotion that comes with his bond to some of the other members of the cast. You really need a generational actor to play out some of those extended sequences in a memorable way and Leo absolutely fills that criteria. Then you've got Benicio Del Toro, who made me laugh more than any other performance from this year. His character has so much mystery and background that's left unsaid, but they use that as a tool to feed the comedy. Benicio delivers all these lines to perfection and you really find yourself rooting for him/Leo whenever they have to partner up. Rounding out the rest of the big names: Teyanna Taylor blew me away in her first couple scenes, Sean Penn's character is a complete weirdo but he plays it out as well as can be expected and Regina Hall has some great emotional scenes.

After watching this, it's really hard to believe that this is Chase Infiniti's first feature film role. There's some scenes where she's acting alongside some of these acting legends and she completely holds her own the entire time. Infiniti becomes our emotional connection to the plot and you need a good performance to allow us to feel that deep connection to her role in the story. On the surface it's a simple performance, but she allows it to be very multilayered through her chemistry with others in the cast but also on her own. My favorite scene from her in this film comes where she's on screen almost entirely by herself and she brings such intensity that really works with the tone of the film. It definitely feels like she's a star in the making and I'd love to see her career take off from here.

Hilarious Watch

Credit: Warner Brothers

Really the most unexpected thing I got out of One Battle After Another was how much I laughed. With all the serious storylines going on throughout the film, you really wouldn't expect to be almost in tears of joy like I was in some of these scenes. DiCaprio and Del Toro specifically work off each other so well. The relationship between the two of them is rooted in basically no context and the viewer has to try to guess what the background is with both of them. But the movie purposely doesn't explain any of that history, as it makes for the hilarity and shock once you see their partnership initially play out. Sean Penn's character is the opposite of most of the cast where you do not want to root for him at all, but you begin to laugh at him a lot because he's just an absolute idiot. Taylor has the least screen time out of that whole main cast, but she and DiCaprio have some really great chemistry that makes for some really good laughs. I think this movie could have worked without so much humor, but it ends up being one of the most important elements. When you are dealing with such heavy subject matter, the comedy can really help to relax the audience at some points.

Anticlimactic Ending?

Credit: Warner Brothers

I need to preface this section by saying that I think this movie is almost perfect. As you'll see with my ranking below, I think it's easily one of the best movies of the year. This is really my only concern with the film and it's a small one. Overall, I think the ending was good. It wraps up the main plot in a successful way. However, I felt a little underwhelmed. I can't really get into it without getting into spoilers, but the sequence prior to the ending is so tense and wild that I really would've liked the film to stick the landing a little better. I just feel like it builds up to a very big emotional conclusion and I didn't really feel any of those emotions that I was supposed to. Great performances from the characters involved, but I don't think it brought that ending sequence to a close in a meaningful enough way. Again, I do like the ending, but my small problem with it prevents it from being a perfect film and not just below perfection.

Final Thoughts

I think this movie should absolutely be up for a ton of awards when that season comes around. You've got great filmmaking, design and performances. It really blew me away in every way and it feels like it'll be one of the defining films of this generation. Go see this movie!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Editor's Note: I've included the top 20 from my 2025 new releases list, for editing purposes.