ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER: Fast, Ferocious and Funny

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Blu-ray)

2025 / 162 min

Warner Bros

Review by Princess Pepper😸

Best movie of 2025? Yeah, right, I remember thinking not too long ago. Not if it’s a Paul Thomas Anderson film. 

Don’t get me wrong…Anderson’s a fine director. Even gifted in many respects. But while I acknowledge he’s made a lot of films worth seeing, I’ve personally never found them to be anything exemplary. Unlike, say, Scorsese or Tarantino, I’m not compelled to see a movie simply because he’s the director. Admittedly, though, I have not yet seen a few of them, including There Will Be Blood, which is widely considered a masterpiece, so you might wanna take my assessment of Anderson’s career with a grain of salt. Yeah, I know…shame on me.

However, One Battle After Another is unlike anything Anderson’s done before. A violent action thriller with healthy amounts of black comedy, it’s epic in scope and length. But despite running nearly three hours, it never feels that long because, in addition to assembling a superlative cast and writing great characters, Anderson demonstrates surprising skill at creating propulsive, tension-filled action sequences. 

Spiritually similar to Ari Aster’s Eddington - especially regarding some thematic elements - I don’t necessarily concur that this was the best of 2025, but yeah, it’s a masterpiece…certainly the most immersive and engaging Anderson film I’ve ever seen. At times, it’s also the funniest, almost as if the Coen Brothers snatched Anderson’s laptop and added their own darkly humorous touches to the story.

Speaking of which, I’m refraining from going into too much detail about the plot, partially because it’s something best seen than read, but also because it goes in unexpected directions that are best experienced cold. But in a nutshell, Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an explosives expert who falls in with a group of anti-fascist revolutionaries called French 75, led by Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyanna Taylor), with whom he has an intense personal relationship…and a newborn child, Charlene. When Perfidia’s caught by police, she’s offered witness protection by gung-ho (and psychotic) military colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) in exchange for ratting out her friends. He’s also obsessed with Perfidia herself after a bizarre sexual encounter of their own.

Leo cosplays as a Walmart customer.

Fast forward 16 years…Pat is in hiding and goes by the name of Bob Ferguson, struggling to raise his teenage daughter, now Willa (impressive newcomer Chase Infiniti). He’s overly protective and extremely paranoid, exacerbated by drug and alcohol abuse. Concurrently, Lockjaw is trying to join a secretive and powerful hate group, who give him carte blanche to hunt down immigrants by any means necessary. He’s also obsessed with tracking down Bob and Willa, the latter in particular, for reasons that are shocking and repellant enough to make Lockjaw one of the more memorable movie villains in recent memory….with Penn delivering a performance that’s both comical and unnerving.

In fact, all of the performances are topnotch. The older DiCaprio gets, the better he is at disappearing into characters, and along with his turn as Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this ranks among his best roles. Elsewhere, Benicio del Toro is memorable as Sergio, who protects undocumented immigrants and saves Bob’s life (more than once), while Regina Hall is excellent as ex-French 75 member Deandra, assuming the task of hiding Willa as Lockjaw closes in. Interspersed throughout the story are intense, believable action scenes. The climactic car chase is particularly noteworthy, depicted with such creative simplicity that one wonders why nobody ever thought of doing it that way before.

I don’t know what I was expecting from Anderson, but it certainly wasn’t this, and I mean that in the best way possible. One Battle After Another is deserving of all the critical praise it’s getting and surely worth multiple Oscar nods (which it’ll likely get). The film didn’t suddenly convert me into PTA fan, but should he ever decide to tackle another action thriller, I’m totally onboard.

KITTEN KATNIP: The Best Stuff We Reviewed in 2025

We reviewed a slew of Blu-Rays, DVDs and movies in 2025. Time to take a look back at the best of them. While we have seen more movies than the Surgeon General recommends, our list consists strictly of titles which were sent to us for review purposes.

PURR-R-R...THE BEST: We reviewed some good stuff this year, but the following titles were better than taunting a mouse to death (in no particular order):

SINNERS, WEAPONS, COMPANION and FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES (Warner Bros) - It’s been a great overall year for horror, but no studio had the year that Warner Bros did. Sinners is actually Oscar worthy, Weapons proves director Zach Cregger is the real deal, Companion is surprising and thematically timely, while Final Destination: Bloodlines is far better than any fifth sequel ever has a right to be.

THE LONG WALK (Lionsgate) and THE LIFE OF CHUCK (Neon/Decal) - 2025 has also been a pretty damn good year for Stephen King movies. The Long Walk is one of the better King adaptations of the past 20 years, with a grim tone, anti-authoritarian themes prevalent in much of the author’s work, and a well-drawn cast of characters. Some of us waited a long time for this one, but it was worth it. The Life of Chuck defies genre classification, but might be the most emotionally affecting King movie since The Shawshank Redemption (though not always the most uplifting).

EDDINGTON (A24) - Eddington is Aster’s most narratively straightforward effort - it’s certainly his least ambiguous - but might also be his most compelling, to say nothing of polarizing. With healthy amounts of black comedy, none-too-subtle themes and bursts of brutal violence, it perfectly captures the chaos of the most tumultuous era in our recent history. I can imagine just as many people hating it, and any movie capable of such diverse reactions is always worth seeing.

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN 4K (Warner Archive) - The classic that put Hammer Films on the map has been beautifully restored for 4K in all its gothic glory (in three different aspect ratios), and has never looked or sounded better. But the icing on the cake is the sheer abundance of new and archival bonus material. The movie itself remains wonderfully entertaining all these years later.

SEPTEMBER 5 (Paramount) - Set during the terrorist siege on the Munich’s Olympic village in 1972, this is a dramatic reenactment of ABC’s coverage behind the scenes. We feel like a fly on the wall, watching barely controlled chaos as the coverage is often complicated by conflict, miscommunication, ethically questionable decisions and occasional overreaching ambition. 

SUNSET BOULEVARD 4K (Paramount) - Many classify this classic to be film noir, a label I don't necessarily agree with. But whether it’s considered noir, melodrama, satire or horror, what ultimately matters is that it’s a great film, one of the best of the 1950s and well worth revisiting from time to time for its rich performances, great dialogue and Wilder’s typically brilliant direction. It’s also been given a great 4K restoration.

RE-ANIMATOR 40th Anniversary 4K (Ignite Films) - 40 years later, Re-Animator holds up really well. Like the best horror films of the ‘80s, it has since transcended its decade - narratively and aesthetically - to become a true classic. The movie’s power to shock audiences may have diminished, but it’s still a potent shot of nostalgic nastiness. In addition to an excellent 4K transfer, this set features a ton of substantial new & archival bonus features, along with two cuts of the film.

RELAY (Bleecker Street/Decal) and BLACK BAG (Universal) - It’s a damn shame these two gems came and went in theaters almost unnoticed. In a perfect world, both would have been huge hits, or at least successful enough to remind Hollywood that not everyone goes to the movies for fireworks. Both are superlative adult thrillers driven more by complexity and characters than kinetic kaboom.

CONCLAVE 4K (Universal) - Forget Anora…Conclave was the Best Picture of all the Oscar nominees this year. Beautifully shot and unfolding like a thriller, Ralph Fiennes gives one of his best performances as Cardinal Lawrence, reluctantly overseeing the entire conclave and managing the sequestered cardinals charged with electing a new pope. On paper, it sounds like a dull way to spend two hours, but director Edward Berger makes it extremely engaging and surprisingly suspenseful.

JAMES BOND: SEAN CONNERY 6-FILM COLLECTION (4K) (Warner Bros) - Bond. James Bond. In 4K. This is obviously a great batch of classic, influential films, which Bond fans probably don’t need to be reminded of. If you’re one of those Connery purists seeking technical upgrades (and a great looking package), this set is a must-own. 

IN THE HEART OF THE MACHINE (Rising Sun Media) - The basic story of convicts attempting to free a pigeon from a piece of machinery is just scratching the surface. This stunning Bulgarian film achieves a tone similar to The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile…often harrowing and brutal, but ultimately life-affirming & inspirational, with characters we grow to love. Fans of either of those films owe it to themselves to check this one out. I can't imagine them being disappointed.

SORCERER 4K (Criterion Collection) - William Friedkin’s Sorcerer has been one of my favorite films since I was 13. Though initially a critical and box office failure, it’s now widely considered one of Friedkin’s best. Today, the film remains as darkly compelling as ever, and looks & sounds stunning in 4K. If that weren’t enough, this release includes the wonderful 2018 feature-length documentary, Friedkin Uncut. 

HONORABLE MENTION: .

Se7en 4K (Warner Bros); Antiviral 4K (Severin); Outland 4K (Arrow); Side Street (Warner Archive); Amadeus (Warner Bros); The Monkey (Decal); Juror #2 (Warner Bros); Bring Her Back (A24); Together (Neon); The Day of the Jackal - Season One (Universal); Airport - The Complete 4-Film Collection (Kino Lorber); The X Trilogy (A24); When We Went MAD! (Gravitas Ventures)