70’s California Flick One Battle After Another Trailer Drops, Starring Leonardo DiCaprio

The latest trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another gives fans a closer look at the movie’s action, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, were you looking for some subtlety? Sorry, there isn’t any of that when DiCaprio takes a leap out of a jumping car while Beyoncé’s Freedom dominates the background. When you put Beyoncé’s music in a film, you’re in for a cinematic treat.

One Battle After Another Unfiltered ’70s California

Set in a dreamy but gritty ’70s-inspired California, Anderson creates a noir-infused landscape drowning in political upheaval and unresolved grudges. The film centers on DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson, a.k.a. “Ghetto Pat” (yes, that name exists). Ferguson, once at the center of the radical group French 75, now lives as a recluse.

Reclusivity would be the story of Bob’s remaining life, right? Well, think again. It goes without saying that life isn’t content leaving him alone in One Battle After Another; his chaotic past explodes back into his face when a vile old nemesis, white supremacist Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn, chewing the scenery like his next paycheck depends on it), reemerges. 

Add Ferguson’s teenage daughter, a teen rebel with some serious daddy issues(played by newcomer Chase Infiniti), and an involved mess of ex-comrades portrayed by Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Benicio Del Toro. Together, they weave through explosive action sequences, misguided revolutionary tactics, and enough domestic drama to fuel a hundred telenovelas. Anderson does not just write inner conflict; he throws dynamite into it, making things way more interesting.

And then there’s Del Toro, whose character steals every scene with his mix of absurd humor and ominous energy. Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor don’t just support; they elevate every moment with fierce performances that make their revolutionary arcs resonate beyond the explosions. Taylor shines as an ex-comrade struggling to reconnect and identify with her revolutionary ideals, and Hall keeps things grounded as she can to be the pragmatic glue holding the group from combusting more than they already do.

Honestly, how has it taken this long to get DiCaprio in a PTA flick like One Battle After Another? The two seem designed for each other’s brand of explosive, character-driven storytelling. DiCaprio’s Ferguson teeters perfectly between tortured and unhinged, hitting just the right amount of self-loathing grump to make you root for the guy even while he obnoxiously flails through revolutionary chaos.