One Battle After Another (2025) – Full Spoiler Review

Poster for One Battle After Another 2025 Movie — Official Poster One Battle After Another 2025 Movie

Some search for battle, others are born into it...

R
2h 42m

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Novel: Thomas Pynchon
Premiered: September 23, 2025
Language: English
Status: Released
Budget: $130,000,000.00
Revenue: $201,175,005.00
Awards: 4 wins & 8 nominations total
Country: United States of America

One Battle After Another

7.5/10 (1667 vote)

★★★★★★★★★★

Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
Ghoulardi Film Company
Domain Entertainment

Spoiler

Paul Thomas Anderson's ambitious 2025 release, "One Battle After Another," plunges audiences into a world where the lines between hero and villain blur, and the echoes of past revolutions reverberate through generations. Clocking in at a substantial 2 hours and 42 minutes, this Warner Bros. Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company, and Domain Entertainment production, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, delivers a potent blend of action, thriller, and crime elements, earning a respectable 7.5 rating on TMDB. The film's tagline, "Some search for battle, others are born into it...," perfectly encapsulates the journey of its characters, particularly the spirited Willa, who finds herself inextricably linked to the turbulent legacy of her parents.

The narrative ignites with Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), a woman whose name itself evokes a certain defiant glamour, walking past a stark immigration detention center. This visual sets the stage for the film's exploration of borders, both physical and ideological. Perfidia is not alone in her convictions; she soon connects with fellow revolutionaries, the formidable collective known as The French 75, at the U.S.-Mexico border. This diverse group includes her passionate boyfriend, "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio), the sharp Deandra (Regina Hall), the resourceful Mae West (Alana Haim), the stoic Laredo (Wood Harris), and the enigmatic Junglepussy (Shayna McHayle). Their shared purpose is clear: to orchestrate a daring raid on the detention facility.

Under the cloak of night, The French 75 put their meticulously crafted plan into action. While her comrades work to liberate the detainees, Perfidia finds herself face-to-face with Captain Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a figure whose presence looms large throughout the film. In a moment of audacious defiance, Perfidia compels Lockjaw to emerge from his tent in a state of undeniable arousal. As the operation concludes with the successful freeing of the detainees, the revolutionaries celebrate with a dazzling display of fireworks. Lockjaw, left humiliated and caged by Perfidia, vows a future encounter, a promise that hangs ominously in the air. The group makes their escape, the exhilaration of their victory palpable, with Pat and Perfidia sharing a passionate embrace.

The French 75's revolutionary fervor doesn't wane; they continue to execute a series of impactful attacks. These acts of defiance range from planting a bomb at a politician's campaign office to sabotaging an electrical tower, plunging an entire city into darkness. Throughout these escalating actions, Lockjaw remains a persistent shadow, his gaze fixed on the group, with a particular intensity reserved for Perfidia.

The narrative takes a significant turn when The French 75 plans a bank heist. However, Lockjaw intercepts Perfidia as she attempts to plant a bomb. In a morally compromised exchange, Lockjaw offers her freedom in exchange for a sexual affair. Perfidia agrees, and their clandestine meeting in a hotel room is depicted with Perfidia firmly in control of the encounter. This entanglement leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Pat, unaware of the true paternity, believes the child to be his. Adding to the domestic tension, Perfidia's mother, Jennie (Starletta DuPois), voices her doubts to Pat about his readiness to assume the responsibilities of fatherhood and support her daughter.

Perfidia gives birth to a daughter, Charlene. Her private journal entries reveal a growing internal conflict: a pang of jealousy towards her own child, stemming from the profound devotion Pat exhibits towards Charlene. This emotional turmoil culminates in Pat's realization that he cannot persuade Perfidia to embrace a conventional family life. She ultimately abandons him and their daughter to pursue her revolutionary path. Lockjaw, ever the opportunist, finds Pat and probes him about his daughter, planting a seed of unease and suggesting a potential danger to them.

The French 75, undeterred, execute another bank robbery. However, this operation goes tragically wrong when Perfidia fatally shoots a security guard who was reaching for his weapon. A high-speed car chase ensues through the city. Perfidia, forced to flee on foot, is eventually apprehended by Lockjaw and his associates. He presents her with an ultimatum: her freedom in exchange for the identities of the remaining French 75 members. Recognizing the imminent peril to both Lockjaw and Charlene, Pat makes a critical decision. He arranges for Charlene to be taken to a sanctuary city, Baktan Cross, where they will adopt new identities as Bob and Willa Ferguson. Perfidia, meanwhile, enters witness protection. Tragically, several members of The French 75, including Mae, Laredo, and Junglepussy, are gunned down. When Lockjaw seeks Perfidia, she has already vanished, having escaped to Mexico.

Sixteen years later, the narrative jumps forward to find Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) diligently caring for Willa (Chase Infiniti), who has been undergoing rigorous martial arts training under the tutelage of Sensei Sergio (Benicio Del Toro). However, Willa harbors deep dissatisfaction with Bob's descent into alcoholism and drug abuse, finding herself in the role of caregiver rather than being cared for. Concurrently, Lockjaw has been recruited by a clandestine white supremacist organization, the Christmas Adventurers, drawn to his anti-immigration agenda. The group's leader, Virgil Throckmorton (Tony Goldwyn), commends Lockjaw's efforts but probes him about any past interracial affairs. Lockjaw denies any such involvement, but the question triggers a sense of vulnerability, prompting him to secure his position.

Lockjaw orchestrates the arrest of Bob's former associate, Howard Sommerville, also known as "Billy Goat" (Paul Grimstad), the individual responsible for providing Bob and Willa with their aliases. Howard is apprehended by Avanti Q, an indigenous bounty hunter. Under duress, Howard divulges Bob and Willa's true identities and their current location in Baktan Cross. Lockjaw's sinister objective is to eliminate Bob and take Willa into his custody, thereby erasing any evidence of his past affair. Unbeknownst to Lockjaw, two boys who witness Howard's arrest transmit a distress signal, alerting the surviving members of The French 75. Deandra arrives at Willa's school dance just moments before Lockjaw and his enforcers. The men descend upon the school, interrogating Willa's classmates. Despite Bob's strict admonitions against Willa possessing a phone, some of her friends steadfastly refuse to divulge her number.

Bob receives a frantic call from an associate, informing him of the unfolding crisis. However, his cognitive abilities have been severely impaired by years of drug use, rendering him incapable of recalling crucial codes. Bob flees his residence just as Lockjaw's goons arrive. Lockjaw attempts to flush Bob out, but he escapes through a network of tunnels. He seeks refuge at a payphone, attempting to contact someone to arrange a rendezvous point to locate Willa. His memory fails him when asked for the time, and he is unable to elicit the necessary information.

Desperate, Bob seeks assistance at Sensei Sergio's dojo. He attempts to contact his previous informant again, but to no avail. Bob manages to reach a former ally, Talleyrand (Dijon Duenas), who vouches for him, enabling him to secure the rendezvous details. Sergio, who secretly shelters undocumented immigrants, alerts them, and they scatter into the streets along with other students. During the chaotic escape, Bob falls from a roof and is tasered in an alley. Meanwhile, the arresting officers interrogate Willa's classmates. All but one refuse to reveal her phone number. As the phone begins to ring, Deandra intercepts the call and discards Willa's phone from the car.

Deandra escorts Willa to the designated rendezvous point: a hidden sanctuary operated by revolutionary nuns. These nuns, who initially view Perfidia as a "rat," come to trust Willa's resolve. Willa is deeply wounded to discover that her mother, far from being the heroic figure Bob portrayed, had betrayed her comrades.

The Christmas Adventurers convene in an underground chamber. They invite member Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker) to join them. The discussion turns to the persistent rumor of Lockjaw's affair with a Black woman and the resulting offspring. Perceiving this as a profound violation of their principles, Virgil orders Smith to eliminate both Lockjaw and Willa.

Bob, now in hospital custody, receives assistance from a nurse, enabling his escape and return to Sergio. While en route to the rendezvous point, Bob and Sergio are spotted by police with open containers. Sergio accelerates, creating an opportunity for Bob to leap from the moving vehicle. However, Bob hesitates, and Sergio is forced to push him out. Sergio is apprehended, while Bob escapes on foot. Bob hot-wires another car and makes his way to the convent.

Lockjaw and his men arrive at the convent first, initiating a raid. He seizes Willa and forces her to undergo a DNA test, which confirms his paternity, a revelation that shatters Willa. Lockjaw instructs Avanti to take Willa away, intending to eliminate her. Avanti transports Willa to a location with other gunmen, but he draws the line at harming minors. Avanti then kills the other gunmen and sustains a fatal wound himself. Willa seizes Avanti's car and begins to flee.

Lockjaw's vehicle is spotted by Smith, who shoots him in the face, causing his car to crash. Bob drives past the scene, fearing the worst, but discovers Lockjaw alive, albeit severely injured. Willa realizes Smith is pursuing her, and Bob heads in their direction. Willa stops at the crest of a hill and hides behind a rock. Smith, traveling at high speed, fails to see the car and crashes into its rear. He emerges and approaches Willa. She presents him with revolutionary codes, to which he fails to respond. Willa then shoots Smith dead before he can harm her. Bob arrives at the scene and is reunited with Willa.

Lockjaw is shown to have survived the attack, his face disfigured. He returns to the Christmas Adventurers, falsely claiming Perfidia "raped him in reverse." The organization appears to promote Lockjaw, granting him his own office. However, this is a ruse; they gas him to death and dispose of his body in a furnace.

Bob and Willa return home. Bob gives Willa a letter from Perfidia, addressed to her as "Charlene." This letter provides Willa with a new perspective, allowing her to reconcile with her mother's complex actions. Listening to the radio, Willa hears news of a protest occurring hours away in Oakland. She bids Bob farewell, embarking on her journey to join the demonstration. Bob, no longer consumed by fear for her future, watches her go.