Lede
Sometimes the only way a film works is when the screen is taller than your doubts.

What does not make sense

• Big talk on revolution, thin reasons for it. The Why is a whisper. The How is a parade.
• Long stretches of still faces plus needle-drops trying to do the acting. Tarantino mood without the bite.
• Racial politics everywhere, nuance not always. Interracial ties, a nonbinary friend, secret clubs and white-power cosplay. Some of it stings. Some of it feels like a lecture with fireworks.
• It wants to be a people’s uprising and a chase movie and a family drama. It keeps changing hats mid-scene.
• At times it says something sharp about America. At others it sells tension by the yard.

Synopsis roast: One Battle After Another (2025)

Ex-revolutionary dad hides his daughter from a corrupt military man with a grudge the size of a state. Old comrades resurface. Doors, tunnels, chases, rallies. The past keeps punching the present. The plot is clear enough. The purpose less so.
What line stays: It’s like watching a Tarantino film with still faces and music to fake the tension. Accurate. And the allegory lands bluntly: immigration crackdowns, racism in high places, and a culture war dressed as a road movie.

Does it worth seeing it at cinema

Yes, in IMAX. The frame swallows you. The height sells the scale.
Otherwise if you have a big screen TV, wait for networks. The story shrinks on a sofa.
If you enjoy dissecting craft, go big. If you want to feel something true, your living room is fine.

The numbers

1. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti.
2. Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. Political action thriller with dark comedy.
3. Runtime 162 minutes. Released with an IMAX rollout.
4. Opening weekend about $22.4m domestic, ~$48.5m worldwide. Budget cited between $130m and $175m.
5. Reviews split: craft praised, themes and handling of race and gender debated.

The sketch

Scene one: IMAX foyer. Poster shouts revolution. Someone mutters: “Looks like a bold tax write-off.”
Scene two: On screen, two faces hold a stare while the music does push-ups. Someone sighs: “Oh look, another metaphor.”
Scene three: Credits. A lone viewer heads out. The film whispers: “Viva la revoluciuó… later.”

What to watch, not the show

• How IMAX scale flatters material that sags on smaller screens.
• The industry’s comfort with spectacle over motive.
• Representation debates: power, fetish, and who gets to frame the revolution.
• Awards-season positioning versus audience patience.

Name it better

Viva la revolución! Clearer promise, cleaner satire.

The Hermit take

Big screens can make thin ideas look tall.
It roars like change, then asks you to stream it when you get home.

Keep or toss

Keep for IMAX and critics.
Toss for the couch. Wait for streaming.

One Battle After Another (2025) – Official Trailer 

Sources

Entertainment Weekly – opening weekend and global take: https://ew.com/one-battle-after-another-scores-career-best-box-office-for-paul-thomas-anderson-11820196
Barron’s – No.1 debut and IMAX share: https://www.barrons.com/articles/warner-bros-box-office-sales-debut-cd1e706f
Wikipedia – credits, runtime, budget range, Pynchon link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Battle_After_Another
IMDb – logline and credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30144839/
IMAX – 70mm rollout info: https://www.imax.com/en/kr/movie/one-battle-after-another
Houston Chronicle – El Paso locations and premise details: https://www.chron.com/culture/article/el-paso-leonardo-dicaprio-benicio-del-toro-21073328.php
Plugged In – nonbinary friend reference: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/one-battle-after-another-2025/
The Guardian – representation critique: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/29/jezebels-race-kink-and-cardi-b-in-one-battle-after-another-black-women-are-still-stereotypes-paul-thomas-anderson
Iowa Public Radio – review context: https://www.iowapublicradio.org/arts-life/2025-09-29/paul-thomas-anderson-one-battle-after-another-leonardo-dicaprio-movie-review
GQ – character arc framing: https://www.gq.com/story/one-battle-after-another-is-paul-thomas-andersons-most-personal-film
Film Review Daily – themes list: https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/new-reviews/one-battle-after-another