One Battle After Another

The long-awaited epic drama by Paul Thomas Anderson about the American Revolution and American fascism, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn as irreconcilable antagonists.

A grandiose film that encompasses all of America — the third such achievement in Anderson’s career after Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, and by far the most ambitious. Battle After Battle exposes the bleeding wounds of a faltering American democracy — from the crisis of leftist ideals and revolutionary extremism to the neo-fascism of the far right and their persecution of migrants. All of this is combined with the thrill of a high-stakes action film, the wit of absurdist comedy, and the surprising tenderness of a family drama that overshadows satire and grotesque.

— Anton Dolin