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Paul Thomas Anderson's epic action thriller, One Battle After Another, was theatrically released in the United States on September 26, 2025. The film, directed and written by Anderson, is loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland. It features Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti in her cinematic debut.
The story takes place in a politically divided America, where Bob (then known as "Pat") is first introduced as a member of the revolutionary group "French 75," which is led by his partner Perfidia, who targets racism and systematic corruption, attracting Colonel Lockjaw's psychosexual obsession. The story then leaps 16 years.
Bob, now a paranoid, stoner parent living off-grid with his teenage daughter Willa, must spring back into action when Lockjaw, spurred by white-supremacist ideology and a desire to erase the truth of his connection to Willa, reappears and orchestrates a raid that puts his daughter in danger. Bob scrambles to find Willa, receiving aid from her karate sensei, Sergio.
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One Battle After Another ends with a major battle, and Colonel Lockjaw confirms he is Willa's biological father through a DNA test. However, his own racist group, the "Christmas Adventurers' Club," kills him as they despise his "race-mixing" with Willa's mother. Willa escapes, with help from her adoptive father, Bob, and even shoots and kills one of her attackers herself.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers about the film. Viewer's discretion advised.
Breaking down the ending of One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another centers on Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former radical known as "Ghetto Pat" who was part of the militant activist group the French 75. After a period of paranoia and living off-grid, Bob is forced to confront his past when his enemy, the xenophobic and power-hungry Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), reappears in his life.
The core plot of One Battle After Another, which jumps 16 years after the revolutionary opening act, revolves around Bob’s desperate mission to protect his teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), after Lockjaw launches a militant anti-immigrant raid that threatens their sanctuary city. During the climax, Lockjaw tracks Willa to a church where former French 75 member Deandra is holding her.
In a twisted confrontation, Lockjaw administers a DNA test, confirming his shocking paternity: he is Willa’s biological father. He gives Willa over to a bounty hunter for disposal at a militia outpost to conceal this proof of "race-mixing" from the influential, white supremacist group he is trying to join, the Christmas Adventurers' Club.
However, when Lockjaw’s deceit is discovered, he is brutally attacked and later executed by members of the very club he sought to impress. His death becomes a darkly ironic consequence of the racial purity ideology he preached. Avanti (Eric Schweig), the bounty hunter, suddenly changes heart and gives his life to protect her from the militia.
Willa, having escaped the facility, later shows her own revolutionary fire during a tense car chase, tracking and shooting down Tim, the member of the Christmas Adventurers’ Club who first blasted Lockjaw. Later, Bob and Willa ultimately reunite with each other. In the final scenes, Bob gives Willa a letter written by her mother, Perfidia, who has been in hiding, offering a moment of maternal connection.
The true resolution of One Battle After Another comes in the form of action. Willa, who inherited her parents' revolutionary spirit, learns of a protest taking place in Oakland. In the film’s final scene, she gets into a car to join the movement. This scene suggests that while the crisis is resolved and the villain defeated, the long, brutal battle against systemic injustice will continue, carried forward by the next generation.
One Battle After Another hit the theatres on September 26, 2025. Stay tuned for more updates.
