Look, we’re sure his heart’s in the right place.
One Battle After Another sees Paul Thomas Anderson return to the creatively lucrative, box office-ly iffy Thomas Pynchon well. Having already brought Pynchon’s 2009 book Inherent Vice to the screen in 2014, PTA now turns his attentions to the 1990 tome Vineland, which serves as inspiration for this fun-looking tale of old revolutionaries thrust back into the spotlight for one last mission.
One Battle After Another Trailer
What’s the plot?
Now that is a loaded question, mon frere. Pynchon’s novel was set in 1984, the year of Reagan’s re-election, One Battle After Another is set now. It’s still about old rebels coming out of retirement, though, with Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Bob Ferguson spurred to action after the re-emergence of his old nemesis, Colonel Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn. How much of the book remains intact is anyone’s guess, though.
Who’s in it?
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson.
- Sean Penn as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw.
- Benicio del Toro as Sensei Sergio.
- Regina Hall as Deandra.
- Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills.
- Chase Infiniti as Willa Ferguson-Beverly Hills.
- D. W. Moffett as Bill Desmond.
Plus Alana Haim, Wood Harris, and Shayna McHayle in some capacity or another.
When’s it out?
One Battle After Another is in Australian cinemas from September 25 2025.
What’s the vibe?
Paul Thomas Anderson is always worth showing up for, and Inherent Vice rules hard, so even with so little to go by, One Battle After Another has a safe place in the Must See column of upcoming releases. It is going to be very interesting to see how it reads politically once it finally hits our screens, though. A lot has happened in the US since the film was in production, and you have to wonder if PTA’s latest will read as eerily prescient or hopelessly out of date.
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