One Battle After Another Parent Guide

Who’s the good guy?

As long as movies have been around, they’ve used everything from white hats to musical motifs to answer that question. Audiences often find comfort in films that tell them the answer with absolute clarity. But One Battle After Another opts for a world of grays rather than black and white, both in its characters and in its story.

And most of the grays are pretty dark.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor star as Pat and Perfidia, lovers and members of an ultra-left revolutionary group known as the French 75. The story opens with their violent attack on a detention center, during which Perfidia has a strangely haunting and rather kinky sexual encounter with the center’s commanding officer, the aptly named Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn). We see the group carry out a string of attacks on other locations, all involving explosions, but not involving murders. But after the group robs a bank to continue funding their crusade, there is a murder. Perfidia is captured, breaks under interrogation, and is put in witness protection. Pat assumes a false identity and flees with the couple’s daughter Charlene (Chase Infiniti). After a 16-year gap, we see Charlene (now called Willa) as a promising high school student, while Pat (now called Bob), although devoted to his daughter, has turned into an alcoholic drug addict. Lockjaw returns to the scene, still obsessed with Perfidia, and ruthlessly pursuing “Bob” and “Willa” in an extralegal military action with private troops under his command.

Acting is strong throughout; there’s not a weak cast member to be seen. The performance that stands out most is that of Sean Penn, who displays his transformational talents as he has in a broad variety of previous roles. He’s thoroughly convincing and deeply disturbing. Cinematography under the direction of Michael Bauman is skillful and effective, turning winding backroads of southern California into a kind of roller-coaster that becomes key to the plot.

The script, written by Paul Thomas Anderson (who also directed) and Thomas Pynchon (who wrote Vineland, the novel that inspired this film), is deftly written, pitting violent revolutionaries—who can accurately be called terrorists—against the badly warped Lockjaw and his men, and a secret society of white supremacists. It’s hard to find a hero, but it’s much easier to hate Pat and Charlene’s foes than it is to hate them. They’re terrorists too, and in a way that feels worse. It’s also hard, at times, to keep up with everything that’s going on (especially since the major characters have multiple names), but the writers opted for keeping things moving fast over spending time on detailed exposition.

One Battle After Another bleeds into the spy thriller genre, with a world of complicated secret codes, communications networks, and safe houses operated by Pat’s allies. Wisely, however, it doesn’t take on any of the suave sophistication of a James Bond film. It’s awkward, messy, and dangerous in a way that doesn’t involve fancy gadgets. For example, instead of a wild ride through traffic in which a protagonist exhibits superhuman driving abilities and unbelievable luck, we see chases of the much likelier type that end in multiple crashes.

“Bleeds” is the right word here, and so is the film’s title. One Battle After Another is absolutely rife with violence. It’s also full of almost nonstop swearing. It’s hard to think of a movie not in the erotica or slasher genres that’s less appropriate for children. If you want a superbly made and truly interesting film that may make you think about what goodness means, I hope you’ll see it. I also hope you’ll leave young children at home.

About author

Donald Bugg

Donald Bugg is an actor, singer, composer, choir director, writer, attorney, and retired military officer living in Utah. He is married to a beautiful Canadian, has six children, and has always loved movies.