Nate At The Movies

After some back-and-forth movie scheduling with Morgan and her ever-demanding nursing degree, a compromise was reached. I would test drive One Battle After Another this weekend—you know, make sure it’s not poisonous—and then Morgan and I would see it again next weekend. I honestly feel so bad for Morgan, because she missed out on what will likely be one of the best movies of the year, if not the decade.

From the jump, the sheer adrenaline and energy of this film was palpable, and PTA’s direction was expectedly uber-confident. He wasted no time bringing the viewer into the world of the French 75 and endearing us to them quickly as well. The sweetest relationship of the film, of course, was that between Bob and Willa, who anchored the story emotionally. Chase Infiniti should be getting more acting roles immediately; she was electric. DiCaprio was predictably fantastic as well, and I’d call his performance one of his best if I had a better handle on his filmography.

Between the extensive, impressive action sequences and the unrelenting tension and violence, One Battle After Another had my undivided attention for its entire runtime (a runtime that flew by, even at 2.5+ hours). While thoroughly stressful and dramatic, the film had no trouble delivering emotional moments and, surprisingly, being quite funny. It was one of those movies where I was unsure whether I should laugh at the first few jokes, but by the end, I was simultaneously gripping my seat and laughing hard.

The humor was much appreciated in a film that felt so politically charged and scarily representative of the world we live in today. A few narrative beats had me convinced that PTA had built a time machine on set; they were just that timely. There were so many impressive aspects of this film that I’m going to have trouble fitting them all into this review, so I’m just going to finish this out with a rambly list of highlights.

Sean Penn was magnetic from his first scene, and definitely is my frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor as of writing. I don’t think I’d heard one of Jonny Greenwood’s scores before today, but I was quickly obsessed with its frenetic, piano-heavy sound. It fit the stress of this film perfectly, but more impressively may have been the moments where Greenwood opened up the score for the more emotional, familial scenes. The Best Score Oscar is probably still Ludwig Göransson’s to lose, but he’s going to have some stiff competition.

The film did a great job highlighting the power of community—especially in the lengthy sequence with Benicio del Toro and his family—the humanity of revolutionaries, and the hope that we need to instill in the youth of today. Though life will continue to be one battle after another, we’re all here to help each other in those battles, especially when it comes to parents and their children.

One Battle After Another continued my weekend of Absolute Cinema™️ after rewatching Interstellar last night, and the race for the top film of the weekend—and the top film of 2025—is so on. Can’t wait to see this again next weekend!