A Fresh Look at ‘One Battle After Another'
Okay, so the second trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's new thing just landed. One Battle After Another. And… yeah. I'm in. I think.
You watch it and the first thing that hits you is the sheer, chaotic energy. It's that signature PTA vibe—you know the one. Feels like the whole world is vibrating at a weird frequency, and you're just trying to hang on. We get Leonardo DiCaprio looking suitably stressed, trying to rescue his daughter from… well, from the consequences of his past. “Guess this is the end of the line?” someone asks. “Not for you…” is the moody reply. Classic.
Warner Bros. is definitely selling this as an action thriller about revolutionaries, and this trailer leans into it hard. More than the first one, anyway. There's a plot in here somewhere, about a crew of ex-revolutionaries getting back together after 16 years to save one of their own's kid (Chase Infiniti) from some old nemesis. It's giving big Pynchon energy, which makes sense since it's apparently inspired by his novel Vineland. If you've ever tried to read Pynchon, you know what you're in for. A headache. But a brilliant one.
So, what's the deal with this thing?
The cast is just stacked. Absurdly so. DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Alana Haim (of course), Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro as someone called “Sensei”—which, okay. Sure. And Jonny Greenwood is back for his sixth PTA score, so at least we know the music will be a masterpiece of controlled anxiety.
This thing has had more names than I've had hot dinners. The Battle of Baktan Cross. Desert Highway. BC Project. Now, One Battle After Another. Pick one, guys. Please. It's giving indecisive.
The trailer shows a lot more of the moving parts this time. Glimpses of the action, the feds, and what looks like a massive showdown brewing. It feels big. It feels important. But it also feels… familiar? The 70s aesthetic, the paranoid thriller undertones, the sprawling cast. We've been here with PTA before in films like Inherent Vice and Licorice Pizza. Is this going to be a fresh take or a victory lap?
I laughed. I sighed. I probably checked my watch if it was longer than three minutes.
Look, I'm not saying I hated it… but I'm not ready to call it the movie of the year either. It's PTA, so it's an automatic watch. The man doesn't make bad movies, just movies that make you work for it. And this one looks like it's going to be a workout.
They're dropping this in theaters on September 26th, 2025. They hint at a film festival premiere this summer, but nothing's confirmed. Of course not. Why make things easy?
So, who's down to watch this? I am. I think. Ask me again after I've had some coffee. This is going to rock. Or it'll be a glorious, beautiful mess. Maybe both. Weird how that works.
