“One Battle After Another” is a daunting, relentless, sometimes hilarious, weird long ride that hits way too close to home.
Is this who we are? Is this our America? Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest pokes at this idea against a backdrop eerily similar to us. This world has demon-level immigration laws, evil white supremacists working behind the scenes, escalating police brutality, and revolutionaries that range from badass to cringe-inducing. Each side of the coin (the violent leftists, the nauseating right-wingers) gets made fun of without bias.
Let’s all point and laugh at the idiot who thought he could wreak havoc for some DNA without people figuring out why. Or how about Junglep*ssy’s hubris getting the absolute best of her when all she had to do was be quiet?
The film is sometimes caught between being a thriller, a comedy and a satire on politics. An overly long car chase here, an underutilized, iconic Black actress there (Regina Hall), it felt tonally off in parts, especially after a strong start.
One comrade after another
Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson (or “Ghetto Pat” as his comrade homies like to call him apparently) is in rare form as pot-smoking, alcohol-abusing, paranoid but also clueless, overemotional father, who can’t connect with his daughter other than just loving the hell out of her. Bob is so painfully relatable, he gets almost nothing right, but his heart is in the right place and everyone seems to like him a lot. That’s what makes the character so enjoyable to watch even while his mistakes keep piling up.
His unforced errors don’t just happen for no reason. They’re used cleverly to show the quick-thinking of everyone around him, further highlighting how fried his brain is. Sensei Sergio’s (Benicio del Toro) Latino Underground Railroad continuously bails Bob out while also saving immigrants in a sanctuary city under siege.
Credit: Warner Bros.
An absolute stand-out, Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills, is the radical every conservative fears. She scowls and threatens all while wearing a crop top. She’s a mystery that white men can’t help but fall in love with. She covers up her pain with other revolutionaries’ words.
Taylor’s portrayal of Perfidia’s postpartum depression and departure was doubly heartbreaking when you consider Willa’s revelation in the third act. Every second of that scene between Bob with little Charlene and Perfidia about to leave is understated, but powerful. Where Bob has trouble connecting with Willa outside of his love for her, Perfidia seemed to disconnect completely. Being coerced into sexual acts with a vile man is one thing, but when it results in a whole child you never intended to have, the cruelty of reality can be too much to bear.
However, the way Black motherhood and Black female revolution is portrayed leaves a lot to be desired, specifically with how sexualized Perfidia is, how largely unused Deandra ended up being, and the over-focus on JP’s nickname.
On the flip side, one could argue this is really Willa’s coming-of-age movie and her parents’ early revolutionary paths were heavy lessons for her to learn from. Auntie Deandra was there to get her out safely and nothing more; she had to do everything else on her own. Not a whole lot has changed since her mom and dad were in the game, but the battle continues. And that’s the point.
Credit: Warner Bros.
“Of course, I love Black girls!”
Another thing that stood out was this persistent focus on interracial couplings and the aftermath. Between Perfidia and Bob and the other couple played by Alana Haim and Wood Harris, you get the sense that PTA thinks interracial love is revolutionary (it’s not). Pat declaring, “Of course I loves Black girls, the fuck would I be here for?” was extremely amusing and very revealing. The two main men in this movie are (at first) driven largely by desire for Black women.
There’s also a darksided version that Sean Penn’s Steven J. Lockjaw perpetuates: the Black girl fetish. One thing that defines a white supremacist is their hypocrisy. They will scream about racial purity, while lusting after Black women and calling it love.
Personal opinions on Penn aside, the dude steals the show in every scene he’s in. His presence is unsettling, suffocating, and you want to scream any time he goes anywhere near Willa. Their back-and-forth with Willa clapping back at his tight t-shirt was the right bit of silliness to balance how otherwise tense everything else was.
Saint Nick sounds a lot like…
The devil is in the details with the Christmas Adventurers Club, a group of foul ethno-fascist, white nationalists that collectively look like melting candle wax (except Tony Goldwyn). Another thing about supremacists, they’re not very loyal to each other. Lockjaw found that out the hard way.
While there are many quotable lines in this movie, nothing was more disturbing than the quickly saluted, “Hail St. Nick.” It’s a cheeky way to address Americans’ obsession with Christmas, putting a rather devilish spin on it.
Final thoughts
“One Battle After Another” is a roller coaster ride that showcases feats of unfathomable human resilience in the face of evil, but also leaves room so you can laugh about the phrase “semen demon.”
A
Writer and editor