Paul Thomas Anderson has completed the tenth film of his career and it is already receiving rave reviews from veterans like Steven Spielberg. One Battle After Another impressed Spielberg so much that the director not only watched it thrice but also compared it to a Stanley Kubrick classic.
At the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, Spielberg claimed (via The Film Stage):
I have not seen a movie that is so tonally a relative to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. This brings a kind of absurdist comedy, taken very seriously, because it’s so much a reflection of what’s happening today, every day, throughout this country. But it takes it to a point where you want to laugh, because if you don’t laugh, you’re going to start screaming, ‘This is too real.’
That is very high praise, coming from Spielberg himself. But considering P.T. Anderson’s track record, it is not surprising that the filmmaker has delivered yet another incomparable vision with One Battle After Another.
Steven Spielberg Explains How One Battle After Another is Similar to Dr. Strangelove
In his discussion with P.T. Anderson about the film, Steven Spielberg explains just how similar One Battle After Another
Kubrick used armageddon as a way to tell his story, to make his statement. And there’s something that gets us on the same edge of that kind of absurdist feeling, a tone, that you take it both very seriously, but you’re praying for some kind of relief, some kind of a trigger to laugh. I nervously laughed all the way through Dr. Strangelove, and, more than nervously, I had a great time laughing all the way through this. But it’s interesting where you laugh here, where you allow us to laugh, and then when you shut it down.
One Battle After Another marks Paul Thomas Anderson’s first collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, after trying to work with the actor since The Basketball Diaries. Given how much DiCaprio has surpassed his Titanic fame and matured into a character actor, it serves P.T. Anderson’s film right to have him as the lead now more than ever.
One Battle After Another: Plot, Cast, and Release Date
The synopsis of One Battle After Another on Rotten Tomatoes reads as follows:
Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts.
In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the ex-revolutionary, Bob, with Chase Infiniti as his daughter, Willa. Below is a table of the cast of One Battle After Another and their roles in the film:
| Cast | Character |
|---|---|
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Bob Ferguson |
| Chase Infiniti | Willa Ferguson |
| Benicio Del Toro | Sensei Sergio |
| Sean Penn | Steven J. Lockjaw |
| Regina Hall | Deandra |
| Teyana Taylor | Perfidia Beverly Hills |
| Starletta DuPois | Grandma Jennie |
| D.W. Moffett | Bill Desmond |
Critics’ ratings are not yet out for this film. The film was made on a budget of $130-175 million, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal. DiCaprio was reportedly paid a salary of $25 million, his standard, for his role [In Touch Weekly].
One Battle After Another had its world premiere on 8th September, 2025, at the DGA Theater in L.A. The film will get a wide theatrical release on September 26, 2025.
