One Battle After Another: Lunatics, Haters, and Punk-Trash

My father is probably the biggest Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) fan there is. I think if I said anything bad about any PTA film, besides maybe the Thom Yorke video (he made me change that reference to Licorice Pizza), I would be beaten to a pulp. Luckily, One Battle After Another was so amazing that I can tell my father honestly that the editing was magic and the soundtrack is better than anything Johnny Greenwood ever did in Radiohead (and I love Radiohead, so that takes a lot to say). I can talk to him about the movie without fear of being disowned. 

One Battle After Another is about a group of ex-revolutionaries called the French-75 who reunite after 16 years to rescue Willa, the daughter of revolutionaries Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), from their evil arch-nemesis Lockjaw (Sean Penn). Going into this film, I was thinking about how I’m going to be in the theater for two hours and 45 minutes and how that means that I would probably have to get up to pee at least once, but I was so engaged that I did not think about how I was about to pee my pants. This film draws you in with its fast cuts and loud, overpowering music. The first twenty minutes are all about Bob, Perfida, Lockjaw, and their relationship to each other. We also meet Junglepussy, who never comes back after that point, but is probably one of my favorite characters from just her few moments on screen. That leads me to the first and most obvious thing about this film: it’s hilarious.

Throughout the film, you’re at the edge of your seat in fear for the main characters and the battles they’ve gotten themselves into. Then, that tension will be broken by multiple banger jokes in a row. An example of this is the most prominent and frequently repeated joke: The Christmas Adventurers Club. The Christmas Adventurers Club in the film is an ultra-secret society of rich, white, Christian supremacists who have insane political power. They’re evil to a comical extent, and Lockjaw trying to join their ranks set off the plot of Lockjaw chasing down Willa and Bob. In their meetings they say “Heil Saint Nick,” and refer to their missions as “saving Christmas” and save the world from “the lunatics, haters, and punk-trash.” Beyond these ridiculous lines, another notable joke is when Willa asks Lockjaw why his shirt is so tight, and he says, “I’m not gay, if that’s what you’re implying. I’m not a homosexual.” Honestly, all of Lockjaw’s lines are so hilarious, due to Sean Penn’s excellent performance. 

Penn isn’t the only one with a standout performance, though. Honestly, the most impressive performance is from Chase Infiniti as Willa, who makes her feature film debut and portrays the emotions of her character so intensely, drawing you in and making you feel for her. She’s the heart of this film, and even though she has incorrectly stated that NCT has a song for everyone, I can’t wait to see what she does next. Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent, and I know this because while watching the film I forgot who he was and looked forward to whenever he was on screen. While his twink death is still apparent and, dare I say, exemplified in this film, it fits the character of Bob so well. We also have Regina Hall of Scary Movie fame giving it her all, Benicio del Toro being amazing as he always is, and, of course, Teyana Taylor. Taylor hasn’t been in anything besides this film, and I’ve never seen her in anything before, but her performance was amazing. She stole every scene she was in, and I hope to see her in more films soon.

Finally, you can’t talk about this film without talking about its politics. As @connoreatspants on Letterboxd says, “If the president sees this he will either ban movies or kill himself.” Under this review, you can see people fighting about politics. Naturally, that’s bound to happen, but the film also can be marked as “liberal” because of its praise for revolutionaries while making fun of the government, particularly through the secret society and the character of Lockjaw. I understand that reading, and I agree the Christmas Adventurers are stupid and hilarious, but the characterization of Lockjaw is not purely a joke, as comments will lead you to believe. Dare I say, you can see how he gets to the place he is. While he is mostly a stupid joke antagonist, you can see that there’s a human side to him through his wants, his repressed fetishes, and his softening, just for a second, when he discovers something about himself that I won’t reveal so you go see it. Yes, this film (rightfully) makes fun of conservatives, but the reading of Lockjaw just as a joke or a spoof would be an incorrect and dangerous one. To quote @luceisdvd on Letterboxd, “His name is Lockjaw because he sucks,” but to disregard him and just label him as a satire feels wrong because of his humanity shown in the film—it may be little, but it’s there.

To end on a lighter note: the soundtrack is phenomenal. Like all soundtracks, it obviously builds tension and guides your feelings, but the most notable part of it is the dissonance that comes from the clashing of melodies. For example, “Perfida Beverly Hills” begins with a soft but slightly off-putting melody in the violins that is complemented by piano. Then the violins lead and the piano gets louder, and then one minute in there’s a haunting, high-pitched ringing of strings, and then the melody takes over, and the beauty of the feeling created is so powerful that you feel like you’re floating. It rises and rises and rises until the melody halts and the high strings keep on going. And then it cuts. That likely doesn’t make any sense, but you get a feeling of beauty in tension not just in this song but throughout the soundtrack, reflecting on how watching the film makes you feel. 

I don’t like action movies, but I loved One Battle After Another. Don’t forget to follow me on Letterboxd (@robinfilmentine) and comment down below if you’d rather be called Lockjaw or Junglepussy.