⚔️One Battle After Another (2025) – Review, Box Office Report, Cast, Plot & Release Date

“In a world built on lies, survival is just one battle after another.”

Paul Thomas Anderson returns to the big screen with One Battle After Another (2025), an ambitious, sprawling action thriller inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. With a powerhouse cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and newcomer Chase Infiniti, this is more than just another Hollywood action film—it’s a bruising political parable wrapped in explosions, betrayals, and fractured families.

Released in U.S. theaters on September 26, 2025, by Warner Bros., the film has already stirred both critics and audiences, blending Anderson’s trademark artistry with blockbuster-sized spectacle.

📝 Review – A Revolutionary Epic

At its core, One Battle After Another is a story about love, betrayal, and the destructive cycles of power.

• Leonardo DiCaprio delivers one of his most vulnerable performances in years as Pat “Ghetto” Calhoun, a revolutionary turned paranoid addict. His descent from fiery radical to broken father anchors the film with raw humanity.

• Sean Penn’s Col. Lockjaw is terrifying—a chilling portrait of obsession, racism, and unchecked military power. His stilted delivery and icy menace turn him into a villain audiences will not soon forget.

• Chase Infiniti, in her breakout role as Willa, is the film’s beating heart. She balances fragility and ferocity as a teenager caught between her parents’ revolutionary past and her uncertain future.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson crafts the film with operatic scale: sprawling city raids, fiery shootouts, and tense character moments that build toward devastating confrontations. Yet beneath the spectacle lies an aching father–daughter story—about the damage caused when ideals clash with human flaws.

Jonny Greenwood’s score adds another haunting layer, blending industrial chaos with elegiac strings that mirror the emotional carnage onscreen.

Critics have praised the film’s intensity and ambition, with early reviews calling it:

• “A furious political fable for modern America” – IndieWire

• “DiCaprio’s most powerful role since The Revenant” – Variety

• “P.T. Anderson proves again he can marry blockbuster thrills with auteur cinema” – The Guardian

💰 Box Office Performance

Despite being a three-hour political action epic with an estimated $130–175 million budget, the film opened strongly:

• Thursday Previews (Sept 25, 2025): $3.1 million

• Projected U.S. Opening Weekend: $20–25 million

• Projected International Opening: Additional $20 million

The film faces stiff competition from Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie (family audience draw) and The Strangers – Chapter 2 (horror crowd). Yet with Anderson’s name recognition, DiCaprio’s star power, and overwhelmingly positive reviews, long-term legs look promising.

Word-of-mouth could push the film to stabilize in the coming weeks, especially if awards buzz builds around its performances and direction.

🎥 Final Thoughts

One Battle After Another is more than an action thriller—it’s a scathing, stylish critique of corruption, obsession, and the price of revolution. For some, its bleakness and dense plotting may feel overwhelming, but for many, this will stand as one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s most daring works, destined for awards recognition and late-night debates.

As Willa whispers in the film’s climactic moments: “The fight never ends, Dad—it just changes.”

With that line, Anderson reminds us that every generation must face its own battles—whether on the streets, in politics, or within our fractured families.

📅 Now Playing in TheatersDistributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti.