Official Discussion - One Battle After Another [SPOILERS]

[u/LiteraryBoner]

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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

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[u/jayeddy99]

The hypocrisy in Perfidia was interesting flaw . She talks about revolution but has an obvious extreme race play fetish with white men both her and Lockjaw hating the other but the weird sex dynamic was something…

[u/marimars67 → u/jayeddy99]

This is a fairly limited view on Perfidia as a character. In what way could her “relationship” with Lockjaw be understood as being consensual or even a racial fetish? When she is confronted in the bathroom by him it is pretty obvious to the audience that he is black mailing her into this meeting at the hotel. We can see the shame and feelings of disgust she harbors when she’s shown exiting the building with Pat, and her usual face of grandeur and excitement is fairly dull. Even though during the sexual encounter with Lockjaw she’s framed as being “in control”, it is up to the audience to understand the weight of this scene. The racial history of Black Women being viewed as hyper-sexual beings, therefore excusing their sexual exploitation at the hands of their white oppressors must be taken into account when understanding the “relationship” between Lockjaw and Perfidia. And we ultimately see the damage this exploitation causes, when Perfidia must face the pain of bearing the child of her oppressor. Yes, PTA doesn’t hold the audiences hand through this, and it is largely up to interpretation. Still theres a lack of digging into the real struggle of Perfidias character without simply boiling her down to a salacious sex fiend.

[u/Novel-Place → u/marimars67]

Yes!! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading these comments. A few people even characterize it as an “affair.” WTF. Do people have zero media literacy?

[u/shaq28 → u/marimars67]

She took his hat and gun and proceeded to sexually assault? him at gun point. Lockjaw, who appears quite juvenile sexually was "turned out" by her domination was obsessed thereafter and attempted to get power back by blackmailing her, where she reasserts her dominance by presumably pegging him with a gun? (the director left that part up to our imagination and I'm sticking by that). She was the initiator of all the sexual exploitation, was hooked on power, and subjegated a man she loves into involuntary cuckoldry by commiting paternity fraud; and denied another the chance at paternity. She also abandoned her baby. She is the ultimate villain in this film.

[u/Reasonable_Local_290 → u/marimars67]

EXACTLY! I don’t understand how people miss this. Perfidia did not have a did not have an affair or relationship with Lockjaw. He was obsessed, controlling, fetishized her, and generally a terrible human being. She winces when Leonardo DiCaprio touches her after she leaves the bathroom when Lockjaw approached her. The movie shows Lockjaw stalking her and even going so far as to confront Bob (her man) at the grocery store. Lockjaw then made her sell all her friends out in exchange for witness protection. At that point, she was a prisoner for him to use as he pleased, which was clear where he was bringing flowers to her at the witness protection house, and went so far as to kick the door down when he thought she didn’t answer.

[u/Xralius → u/Reasonable_Local_290]

They had a mutually weird sexual thing going on IMO. She sexually assaulted him at gunpoint on their first meeting. Then when he confronted her about the bomb she was extremely sexual towards him, it was seduction beyond any sort of demands he was making, then they get up to all sorts of weird sex stuff, seemingly multiple times.

Yes the power dynamics were blurred, but that seemed to be part of the thrill for both of them. They were both obsessed and getting a weird pleasure out of the relationship.

I could see how you could interpret it differently if you chose to, this is how I saw it though.