Viva la revolución!

Sometimes – just sometimes – a piece of cinema appears that’s so of-the-moment that it just makes you want to cry.

Considering the conception of One Battle After Another dates back well over twenty years to the moment Paul Thomas Anderson first considered adapting Thomas Pynchon’s novel, ‘Vineland’, the very fact that it’s arrived several decades later at a time when America feels positively ripped from its script’s pages, is as impressive as it is terrifying.

Anderson’s films, despite their lived-in feel, have always lurked around the edges, fringes, and shadows of the real world, however, for the first time, he’s found himself plugged directly into the dark heart of the here-and-now with one of the most of-the-moment films in quite some time.

Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a washed-up revolutionary living in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infinity). When his past and his evil nemesis, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their past.

As one of the highest regarded filmmakers of his generation, Paul Thomas Anderson has quite the filmography behind him, however, as lauded and critically acclaimed as his back catalogue has been, it’s safe to say his mainstream appeal has always been rather limited. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course. When you’ve got the likes of There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, and Boogie Nights backing you up, who needs mainstream appeal, right?

With a career spanning the best part of three decades, Anderson has largely worked his way around the fringes of the cinematic mainstream without ever fully diving in, however, while One Battle After Another certainly isn’t a four quadrant blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination, there’s an awful lot to it that’s designed to thrill and entertain audiences in a way his films have never quite done before. Eviscerating, entertaining, exhausting, utterly exhilarating - One Battle After Another feels like both the culmination of Paul Thomas Anderson’s entire filmmaking career and his most accessible effort to date.

While the film certainly positions itself as a jagged political tale about the concept of revolution, power assertion, white supremacy, and the malignantly cyclical makeup of the American system, it also happens to be both a propulsive, engrossing, action-packed thriller and a frequently affecting family drama all rolled into one. This would be a lot of tonal shifts for any film to juggle, but juggle it all One Battle After Another certainly does, as it balances humour, action, drama, and hard-hitting socio-political commentary with a refreshingly brazen nimbleness.

As thrilling and entertaining as it is blisteringly thought provoking, One Battle After Another feels like quite the flex from a filmmaker a full thirty years into a career that, for all its high points, has never truly hit on this many levels. From Jonny Greenwood’s highly charged and wonderfully chaotic score to Michael Bauman’s immaculately shot cinematography (in glorious VistaVision, no less), you feel One Battle After Another’s full force right from the off; and while it may appear a tad protracted at 162 minutes long, the whole thing has such an absorbing, vice-like grip on you, it absolutely zips by.

It’s precisely this action packed, easily consumable nature that makes One Battle After Another so effective in dealing with hardcore political issues that could easily send audiences running if left to their own devices. Thankfully, Paul Thomas Anderson knows exactly what he’s doing, as he deploys what is a refreshingly simple father-rescuing-his-daughter plot without ever diminishing or diluting the impact of the film’s political message.

And what an absolutely eviscerating message it is. Deep within the film’s bulldozing action thrills is an insightful political drama delivered at a moment in time that makes its impact all the more devastating. With shocking ICE raids a depressingly daily occurrence and an American President hell bent on declaring war on his own citizens, One Battle After Another’s revolutionary subject matter feels incredibly pertinent, despite its source material dating back decades.

Spiky, provocative, pummelling, frequently dishevelled, and sometimes touching – Anderson’s message here is a absolutely damning indictment on the state of America, not just as it is now, but as it has always been, complete with the malevolent cycles and systems that keep things grinding on and the status quo as it is.

As we pass through two different revolutionary eras, the idea of the never-ending fight, spiralling political cycles, and the institutionalised racism that repeats itself through generations is particularly strong throughout, and it’s one that lands the film’s biggest thematic blow. Feeling as if it could’ve taken place at any point over the last few decades, everything about One Battle After Another appears both timeless and current in a way that simultaneously haunts and invigorates, filling you, as it does, with equal parts hope and hopelessness.

Leading this revolution, Leonardo DiCaprio is a wonderfully anarchic mess as he once again shows just how great he can be at playing loveable losers. Checking his ego at the door, DiCaprio dives headfirst into a role that’s as pathetic as it is valiant, swinging from lost, brain-frazzled paranoid stoner to admirably gallant hero as the film progresses.

To be this level of deadbeat and chaotically pathetic without ever losing an audience’s affection is no mean feat, yet DiCaprio makes it look easy. With the actor in full flow, the results truly are something to behold, as he proves himself both the star of the show and a selfless member of the ensemble.

To be both a film’s bankable star and to melt into the wider cast is mightily impressive, however, DiCaprio has become the master of this in the latter part of his career, as he leans more and more into his age and weathering appearance (all relative, of course). This level of acting selflessness also allows Paul Thomas Anderson to spread the love and allow his ensemble the chance to shine.

A blend of big names and newer faces, One Battle After Another’s cast boasts a nicely calibrated selection of talent that not only complement DiCaprio, but add their own particular punch to proceedings. Of the big names on the cast list, Sean Penn delivers something so comically grotesque and brilliantly unhinged as a despicably deranged military figure that it feels straight out of Dr Strangelove, while Benicio del Toro offers something entirely different but equally as impressive and inimitably offbeat.

Both deliver the goods and offer brilliant latter-career performances, but the film and the story itself just wouldn’t work without the ensemble’s lower profile faces, namely Teyana Taylor and the incredibly named Chase Infinity.

While her appearance is a relatively short one, Taylor ensures that her presence is felt as she dominates (in more ways than one) One Battle After Another’s early stages, while Infinity belies her rookie status to put in a film-stealing turn in its latter half. Quite how this is Chase Infinity’s first big screen appearance and where on Earth she’s been hiding her talents is anyone’s guess, but her impact on proceedings is instant and adds the kind of poise, power, and screen presence you would expect of a veteran.

Further to this, Infinity’s appearance in One Battle After Another’s second half is a real stabilising factor in the story and the moment the film finally finds its heart. With the father-daughter element now added and the propulsion of the kidnap plot pushing things along, this is also the moment Paul Thomas Anderson finds some order amidst the chaos, as he finally kicks the narrative into gear. With shootouts, standoffs, rooftop escapes, and one hell of a bumpy car chase all packed into the film’s third act, Anderson puts his genre hat on to deliver genuine crowd-pleasing thrills without ever losing sight of the film’s political edge and thematic urgency.

Exhilarating, entertaining, exhausting, eviscerating – One Battle After Another is an astute, urgent instant classic and undoubtedly Paul Thomas Anderson’s most accessible, outright enjoyable effort to date. A jagged, dishevelled, timely political drama wrapped up in a rollicking action thriller, it’s an astonishing piece of cinema that hits on so many levels and at a moment in history where its impact couldn’t be more opportune and devastating.

One Battle After Another is in cinemas now.