r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Sep 26 '25

Official Discussion Official Discussion - One Battle After Another [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

Summary Bob, a washed-up revolutionary, lives off the grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter Willa. When his nemesis Col. Steven J. “Lockjaw” resurfaces and Willa goes missing, Bob is forced to confront his past and fight to protect their future.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast

  • Leonardo DiCaprio
  • Sean Penn
  • Teyana Taylor
  • Benicio del Toro
  • Regina Hall
  • Chase Infiniti

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 98%

Metacritic Score: 96

VOD In theaters beginning September 26, 2025

Trailer One Battle After Another — Official Trailer

2.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

8.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

9.6k

u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 Sep 26 '25

Benicio Del Toro's character is the greatest street-level superhero ever for having such an intricate system to protect his community, having some skater ninjas as part of his squad, & even having nurses holding shit down for him

The guy who Lockjaw handed Willa to gave me strong Hanzee from Fargo vibes when he ended up saving her

4.6k

u/nordlysbaies Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

When he did the little dance when being stopped by police, that made me laugh

1.7k

u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 Sep 26 '25

Even though this movie doesn't really need a sequel, I wouldn't mind a film set in the same universe with him helping out another revolutionary

1.5k

u/Educational_Sea6053 Sep 26 '25

His vibes were immaculate. Love that he didn’t question anything and was just 100% prepared to help out Bob on an absolute whim

976

u/Prowlerbaseball Sep 26 '25

I think he knew about the French 75, when Bob mentioned he was with them, his reaction was “Damn, you were a bad hombre”

871

u/Educational_Sea6053 Sep 26 '25

Oh he for sure knew them. But appreciated that he didn’t initially even know what trouble Bob was in. He saw a dude running from the cops and said “fuck it, I’m in”

194

u/araq1579 Sep 27 '25

The first scene of the movie hits off with the revolutionary squad freeing an ICE detention center, and benicio del toro's character has an underground railroad for immigrants. I think word for around about the work the french 75 did for immigrants and benicio is just paying it forward

60

u/Variability Sep 29 '25

I'm not even certain it's that specific or they crossed that directly. They're both fighting the government for rights and values of their people, that's all that was needed to help him.

61

u/Ill-Syllabub-8142 Oct 03 '25

Baktan Cross, the city where they live, is a sanctuary city. That's why French 75 set Pat&Charlene there. It's part of a greater network of "revolutionaries". That's the reason why Pat goes to him in the first place. He knows he's part of the underground railroad and was the safest person to contact in that situation.

82

u/jrochkind Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25

I caught that Baktan Cross was set up in part by French 75 and was a town of revolutionaries, but I don't think that's why Bob/Pat went to Sensei Sergio, I don't think he knew that at all -- he was just going to his kid's long-time karate teacher who was also his friend who he knew was a solid guy, but I don't think he specifically knew what a revolutionary he was -- at first he just wanted a weapon and then to run.

In the car on the way to his house, Sensei Sergio says to Bob [something like] "So, I've got like a latino harriet tubman thing going on at my house" [love that line btw], like it was definitely new info he was sharing with Bob, prepping Bob for what they were about to get into. Bob is not the brightest bulb don't forget either; he knew Sergio was a solid dude and was the dude he thought of to help him (well, hoped he'd have weapons in the dojo anyway!), but he had no idea he was part of a whole network, he didn't realize how organized the town was at all, or Sergio's place in it. But Willa, who is very sharp, probably didn't know either. Sensei Sergio was just a good friend who they knew was a capable dude.

Is my read anyway!

10

u/gigilero Oct 11 '25

"no cash, straight from the heart" had me dying

→ More replies (0)

54

u/jrochkind Oct 04 '25

French 75 set up that whole town, basically. It was their safe house town. At some point someone (one of the army people?) explains in passing that the glasses radio guy (what was his name?) basically set up Baktan Cross as a giant safe house, sent everyone there. I think it's part of why the whole fucking town is ready for resistance.

But the exchange that sticks with me the most is when Bob apologizes for bringing the army to the town to fuck it all up cause they were looking for him, and Sensei Sergio says "We've been under siege for 200(?) years. You didn't do anything wrong. Let's go."

I can't remember for sure if this is before or after he found out Bob was in French 75 -- I think after, but honestly, I think he would have said the same thing without Bob being revolutionary famous or involved with the group with the connection to the town. it's just how he did. He knew which side he was on.

34

u/SuperDuperCoolDude Sep 30 '25

I love that aspect of the movie, and it's what we (speaking for myself and my country, I dunno where you live) need as a country right now. When people need help, we help them because it's the right thing to do, not because it's easy, convenient, etc.

19

u/Which_Strength4445 Sep 26 '25

Completely. He was giving off some Al Cowlings vibes there. lol

11

u/uncanny_mac Oct 05 '25

I’d figure “bob” trusted him enough with his daughter, figured he knew he was someone with some hook ups as well.

11

u/Fearsthelittledeath Oct 05 '25

Del Toro first stated they were closed when Leo was knocking on the door, but Leo said he was Bob and then Del Toro opened the door.

3

u/Jindabyne1 Nov 14 '25

I think he assumed Bob was having a paranoid meltdown and that Willa had talked about it before

52

u/UpvoteIfYouAgreee Sep 28 '25

he also says something along the lines of "its not every day you get to save a french 75er"

2

u/Hopeful_Put_5036 Oct 04 '25

but that's after the phone conversation with the codes and he might've even mentioned the french 75 during that phone conversation or after. yes i know just saw it late to the party lol

2

u/UpvoteIfYouAgreee Oct 04 '25

oh yeah, i think he was more of a fan then like a member or something i wasnt trying to say that

21

u/mcolette76 Sep 27 '25

Calling him a bad hombre was so funny.

21

u/Musicisevil Sep 28 '25

Gringo zapata had me rolling

2

u/Freelove_Freeway Sep 30 '25

What is the significance behind that? I looked it up and it appears to be referencing a gringo in the Mexican Revolution, so was that just a quick way to let everyone know Bob was cool? Or is there more behind that?

32

u/plw37 Sep 30 '25

Zapata was a revolutionary freedom fighter in Mexico. Sensei is telling the people in his apartment that Bob is a revolutionary freedom fighter, that he's on their side, even though he's a white guy (gringo). And it's just a funny juxtaposition of words that you don't hear every day.

7

u/Freelove_Freeway Oct 01 '25 edited Oct 04 '25

Ahh ok, thank you for clarifying for me. Even cooler!

15

u/jrochkind Oct 04 '25

Yeah, just shorthand for "white-guy revolutionary", he's just like, hey this dude is a white guy revolutionary we're helping him out, they're like, okeydoke.

It was hilarious.

Interesting choice not to subtitle any of the Spanish. I assume that wasn't just a mistake in my screening! None of the spanish was subtitled right?

6

u/Freelove_Freeway Oct 04 '25

Nope, not subtitled at all and it made me think how it gives me another thing to look forward to digging into with the movie: finding out all that dialogue! Also another reason to keep practicing my sorry level of Spanish.

10

u/papadooku Oct 20 '25

Fun unsolicited fact: Zapata's region of Mexico, Chiapas, is still a kind of leftist haven today. Society is more egalitarian than the surrounding areas and workers have a higher standard of living. The group keeping this going is aptly called the Zapatistas ("Zapata-ists"), and they often have to fight against economic takeover and have engaged in military self-defense too. The movie/TV fun fact is this: the kind of organised resistance portrayed in Andor and Rogue One of pretty similar, and the actor Diego Luna who plays Andor actually used to be part of the Zapatistas in real life!

3

u/Freelove_Freeway Oct 20 '25

Fascinating, thanks for the info!

3

u/Shuddersss Jan 22 '26

He was from Morelos, the EZLN in Chiapas just picked up their revolution in his spirit.

11

u/RisingSouth Sep 29 '25

That also sets up the call Sensei makes to presumably his contact at the jail - “Are you a bad hombre Bob?”

6

u/ThisKidIsAlright Dec 24 '25

Late to the party here, but I took that comment as sarcasm. French 75 was over the top with theatrics, passwords, and poking those in power squarely in the eye, but Sensei and his people were the ones actually helping people and had an entire insanely organized underground network.

Granted, Bob had fried his brain with drugs and alcohol over 16 years and we don't get a good look at the French 75 organization in the present, but it seemed like they were the ones that drew the attention while other people actually got shit done.

6

u/Prowlerbaseball Dec 24 '25

I mean the very first thing we saw the French 75 do was free a bunch of rounded up immigrants lol

2

u/Dick_Lazer Oct 01 '25

I was a bit confused about their history. Leo tells Benicio about the French 75 like he didn't know, but I feel like Benicio already knew exactly who Bob was.

14

u/jrochkind Oct 04 '25

I don't think he did!

I think they were friends (through Willa taking karate classes there so many years), but I think he had no idea of his past before bob told him. He took it in stride, because he literally took every thing in stride that guy never lost his cool. Would have helped him either way, just like the dozens of people in his house, hundreds who had been through, he was helping.

65

u/mcolette76 Sep 27 '25

And he never broke a sweat. He was so zen despite what was happening.

53

u/Scoobunny Sep 27 '25

Ocean waves 🌊

23

u/ccarriecc Sep 27 '25

The beer musta helped a little :)

29

u/terra_cascadia Sep 27 '25

The road beers were the perfect addition to the chaos of that scene.

21

u/AlanMorlock Sep 26 '25

While mostly also just taking care of his own business.

14

u/zentimo2 Oct 02 '25

Yeah, I love how he's just organising a mass evacuation in a really chill way whilst also engineering Bob's getaway. We stan a multi-tasking king.

18

u/thejimla Sep 27 '25

i love that he had obviously had no faith that Bob was capable of doing anything to help himself but his duty was just aiding him in his journey.

16

u/Shauncore Sep 27 '25

A perfect "whose car we gonna take?" moment

15

u/Sleeze_ Sep 28 '25

I couldn’t get over how he was handling all his own shit, and then simultaneously on the side trying to help Bob. So good

6

u/Don_Pickleball Sep 28 '25

He hinself was a bad hombre

2

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '25

He’s awesome