2020-2029, Film Review

One Battle After Another (2025)

Posted on October 4, 2025November 13, 2025 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**© Warner Bros. Pictures and Ghoulardi Film Company**

One Battle After Another – Film Review

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Sean Penn, Regina Hall, Benicio Del Toro, Alana Haim

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Synopsis: A washed-up former revolutionary is forced to confront his past when both he and his daughter are hunted by a former foe…

Review: You’d have to be living under a rock to be unaware that the political climate in the United States in 2025 is as fraught and bitterly divided as it has been at any point over the past decade. In such politically charged times, it takes a brave filmmaker to hold nothing back and go for the jugular with a thorough, uncompromising look at the land of the free and what the country actually stands for. Enter Paul Thomas Anderson, with a film two decades in the making, where the revolution will very much be televised.

In one of, if not the, most frenzied first acts of the year, Pat (DiCaprio) and Perfidia (Taylor) are two members of the far-left revolutionary group the French 75. The group have gathered outside an immigrant detention centre to storm the facility and release the migrants detained, while also perpetrating attacks against other key targets against the country’s infrastructure. These attacks capture the attention of Colonel Steven J Lockjaw (Penn), who makes it his personal mission to hunt down and eliminate the group’s members at any cost. Pat and Perfidia soon fall in love and have a child, whom they name Charlene. After their daughter’s birth, Pat is determined to lay low and leave his revolutionary days behind, but Perfidia isn’t one to give up the fight so easily, which lands her on Lockjaw’s radar. After 16 years of lying low, now going under the aliases of Bob and Willa (Infiniti), the duo find themselves on the run again when they realise they are once more in Lockjaw’s crosshairs.

After an adrenaline-charged first act that throws you headfirst into the heat of the action, Anderson briefly gives the audience a moment to catch their breath, but don’t get too comfortable. One Battle After Another truly lives up to its title; while the characters may have claimed an initial victory, the war is far from over. Loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, Anderson’s screenplay is sharp and scathing in its criticism of modern-day America, and the parallels between the revolutionaries and the pushback against the US government’s callous and inhumane treatment of migrants are all too relevant in the absurdity of this timeline. Yet, this is a film with a lot more on its mind as it also scathingly rebukes the hatred and oppression that marginalised groups, especially immigrants, face and a society which allows this contempt to filter into society through truly poisonous ideologies such as white supremacy. Such hatred, while those at the top perpetrate rampant corruption. It is all too relevant to the absolute authoritarian hellscape that is the US in 2025, which ensures the film hits like a sledgehammer, with a powerful and furious urgency.

Having come very close to working with Anderson on 1997’s Boogie Nights, Leonardo DiCaprio can finally add Anderson’s name to the distinguished list of filmmakers he has worked with across his career. DiCaprio rarely disappoints, even when the film around him is an absolute dumpster fire (looking at you Don’t Look Up). Unlike that film’s pitiful attempts at humour, Anderson combines the tense political themes with a surprising amount of humour. Not least because in those 16 years, he has developed a penchant for anxiety-reducing drugs to ease his paranoia, which is understandable given his revolutionary past. Consequently, he spends a not insignificant part of the film stoned out of his mind, while wearing a knitwear bathrobe that could give Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski a serious run for his money. Taylor makes her presence felt with what little screentime she has, but it is to the film’s detriment that she only appears in those explosive first 30 minutes and disappears thereafter.

Going toe to toe with such a titan of the industry would be a daunting task for anyone, especially a newcomer, but Chase Infiniti goes toe to toe with her more experienced counterpart and more than holds her own with a fierce and spirited performance. Even in the midst of a society that is seemingly crumbling before her very eyes, there is fire in her belly, especially when it comes to the threat posed by Lockjaw and her determination to find and be reunited with her father. Penn gives a fiendishly frightening turn as a bigoted and loathsome human being (those individuals being well represented in the current US administration) who thrives on the cruelty and mistreatment of others and will stop at nothing with almost robotic-like efficiency until he finds his target.

Shot in stunning VistaVision, Michael Bauman’s cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking, pulling the audience into a vividly chaotic world on the brink of collapse, yet still managing to find beauty amidst the turmoil. Jonny Greenwood continues his collaboration with Anderson with a score that pulses with intensity, driving the film’s 162-minute runtime with an electrifying energy that ensures the pacing never lags, culminating in a pulsating, edge-of-your-seat action sequence in the third act. The fires of revolution have been lit, and it is up to all of us to ensure they never go out, especially in the face of fascism, bigotry and tyranny from power-hungry madmen. Viva La Revolución!

Combining comedy with high-intense and serious drama in a society on the brink doesn’t always fully mesh. However, with the power of its performances, especially newcomer Chase Infinity, and its furiously urgent messages ensures Paul Thomas Anderson has made the most important film of his career to date.

2010-2019, Film Review

Sicario 2: Soldado (2018)

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

Sicario 2: Soldado – Film Review

Cast: Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, Isabela Moner

Director: Stefano Sollima

Synopsis: As the drug war at the US-Mexico border rages on, and with the cartels now transporting terrorists across the border, the US government recruits Matt Graver (Brolin) and Alejandro (del Toro) to fuel tensions between rival cartels…

Review: Every once in a while, a film comes along that is so gritty and grounded in terms of its execution, that you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a real life drama that was unfolding in front of you. One such film that falls into this category is 2015’s Sicario. The scope of this film focused on the battle on the drug trafficking across the US-Mexico border, and the murky boots-on-the-ground mission that ensued. It was a simple story, but one that was told magnificently through superb cinematography and directing, and a compelling lead performance from Emily Blunt.

So for this next mission, unfortunately all of those three aforementioned components are gone. Blunt’s Kate Macer is out of the picture and out go Denis Villenueve and Roger Deakins as director and cinematographer, and in come Stefano Sollima and Dariusz Wolski respectively. Brolin and del Toro return as does Taylor Sheridan on screenplay duties. This particular story is one that feels very timely as the cartels are smuggling terrorists across the border and so in an attempt to retaliate, the US Government wants to put petrol on the fire and ignite a war amongst the cartels.

Taking the reins from Villeneuve is a big ask, but Sollima’s direction is assured and retains that gritiness and horrifying realism that the first film captured. In addition, with Brolin and del Toro, you know you’re going to get confident performances from these two. However, as good as these guys are, the absence of Blunt feels like a missed opportunity as no one really steps up to fill that important moral compass role that she represented, even in such a murky and dangerous world. Because these guys are not heroes, not in a million years.

**And it’s good night for this person…**

With the high of his directorial debut Wind River, Taylor Sheridan again pens the script. Though he has written four stellar screenplays, this is his first major misstep. Though this film is a lot more complex than the first film as it tries to weave several different strands together, but this results in a very messy and meandering story that just does not mesh those strands together well enough, and is really unfocused. What’s more the characters of Matt and Alejandro are barely developed from the first film, which is a real shame as for Alejandro especially, given the enthralling and deeply personal arc that his character went on in the first film. There is an attempt to expand on that arc, but it is minimal at best.

That is not to say, there are one or two moments in the film that really ground the film in reality, especially a scene near the beginning that bluntly remind the viewer that this is a dangerous conflict that we face in the world today. Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is assured, but nowhere near on the level of the brilliant, incredibly tense score that Johann Johannsson (RIP) provided for the first film. There is an argument to be made that a sequel was certainly not needed for this film, and when you take away the elements that made that first film great, it should come as no surprise that you’re going to get a film that despite the best efforts of everyone involved, is really lacking the quality that made its predecessor such a riveting piece of cinema.

Retaining the dark and gritty nature of Sicario, Soldado tries to deliver a more complex story, but its messy screenplay severely lacks the spark and emotional punch that its predecessor delivered.

2010-2019, Film Review

Sicario (2015)

Posted on May 9, 2017December 5, 2024 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**Image is property of Black Label Media, Thunder Road and Lionsgate**

Sicario – Film Review

Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Synopsis: In the war on drugs on the USA/Mexico border, an FBI agent is recruited as part of an undercover operation to take down a leading drug cartel.

Review: Whenever you depict war on film, chances are the results usually aren’t going to be pretty, especially the story you’re telling is focusing on the war on drugs and drug cartels near the US/Mexico border. Some folks are going to get their hands dirty and things are going to get messy very quickly, with some fatalities along the way. Though this is an ongoing conflict, and even though the events portrayed here are fictional, you would be forgiven for thinking that you are in fact watching a documentary about this struggle, and not a fictionalised version of events.

The gritty and dark nature of the story then is the perfect material for Denis Villeneuve, the director behind Prisoners, the dark and unsettling drama about a family who see their young daughters mysteriously disappear. Once again Villeneuve chooses a subject matter that will almost undoubtedly be very unsettling for some, but at the same time, it’s a story that is told with such conviction you will not want to take your eyes off the screen. The main protagonist here is Blunt’s Kate, an FBI agent who just wants to do what’s right, and that desire takes her into this conflict, and what she sees really opens her eyes. Alongside her is Josh Brolin’s Matt, an agent that is quite casual about the mission they’re on and Benicio del Toro’s Alejandro who by contrast, is not fucking around.

Taylor Sheridan in his debut screenplay tells the story in a very ambiguous way, is what we’re seeing right or is it wrong? There are certainly some things displayed on screen that are certainly very wrong, and not exactly pleasant, but for a film about the war on drugs, that is hardly a surprise. The film might be a slow burner, but the script keeps you hooked in the story, and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score will keep you on the edge of your seat. The three leading actors all deliver performances of a very high award-worthy calibre, but special mention must go to del Toro who has perhaps never been better in his career and was mightily unlucky not to have received an Oscar nomination. He’s a man who is driven by his motivation, and that makes him one scary dude that you don’t want to anger, and if you have angered him, well you’re in deep trouble.

Villeneuve’s direction is masterful with some breathtaking wide shots of the FBI teams on their patrols, the camerawork is so authentic, that it really makes you feel as if you’re on patrol with these guys. It kind of goes without saying at this point but Roger Deakin’s cinematography is as beautiful to the eyes, and Johannson’s score is to the ears. Deakins’s work, as is so often the case is just mesmerising to look at, even with the depravity that you see on screen sometimes. It’s incredible to think that he has never won an Oscar across his superb career, despite amassing THIRTEEN nominations. It’s only a matter of time before he lands that coveted Oscar gold, Blade Runner 2049 perhaps?

With a pulsating final sequence that will have you biting your nails until the credits begin to roll, Villeneuve reinforced his growing reputation as a filmmaker to watch, which he further cemented with his magnificent alien invasion flick Arrival. To make a movie about such a weighty subject matter cannot be an easy task, but with Prisoners and Sicario, Villeneuve really proved more than anything when it comes to directing, he most definitely is a Sicario himself, one that is absolutely deadly and does not miss.