Shadows on the Wall | One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir-scr Paul Thomas Anderson
prd Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, Adam Somner
with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Tony Goldwyn , Eric Schweig, Shayna McHayle, Alana Haim, John Hoogenakker, Kevin Tighe
release US/UK 26.Sep.25
25/US Warners 2h41

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Drawing on a range of present-day topics, Paul Thomas Anderson tells this lively story with a blistering pace and wonderfully messy characters. It's a rollercoaster thriller, propelling with intent through a spiralling story that's impossible to predict. So watching the film is exhilarating, keeping us entertained with edgy comedy and a gripping sense of urgency. At at the centre, there's a surprisingly moving story of a father and daughter.

Anti-government activist Bob (DiCaprio) and girlfriend Perfidia (Taylor) are separated when Col Lockjaw (Penn) arrests Perfidia and puts her into witness protection. The rest of the rebels scatter, forcing Bob to hide out with his infant daughter. Some 16 years later, Bob and now-teen Willa (Infiniti) find themselves running from Lockjaw again. This time, he is trying to tie up loose ends so he can join an elite white supremacist group. Willa is rescued by rebel cohort Deandra (Hall), while Bob turns to sensei Sergio (Del Toro) for help. But Lockjaw has brought an army.

Continually twisting and turning, the narrative features a string of heart-stopping events. And no one can ever predict what anyone else will do next. Bob is so zoned out on alcohol and weed that he can't remember the old passwords. Willa is learning that the story he told her about her long-lost mother isn't true. And Lockjaw is determined that nothing will stop him, even as he remains clueless about the very real threats against him.

Performances have a full-on intensity that cleverly plays up the desperation each of these people is feeling. DiCaprio plays Bob as a stoner who is functioning on instinct, just about keeping out of trouble as he tries to find Infiniti's resourceful, curious Willa. As his opposite force, Penn has a lot of fun playing the hard-wired Lockjaw, whose singular focus and scorched earth approach is terrifying. The ensemble around them fills in wonderful textures, most notably Del Toro's achingly cool sensei.

Even with such an epic running time, there isn't a single superfluous moment in this film. Scenes feed into each other to build a staggering sense of momentum, skilfully shot and edited and augmented by Jonny Greenwood's inventive score. Wacky touches abound, largely in the way these opposing secret societies run the world from the shadows through a series of nitpicky rules. So in the end, the film perhaps feels a bit nihilistic in its depiction of the impossibility of truly changing anything.

themes, language, violence 28.Sep.25

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