REVIEW: ‘One Battle After Another’ opens a new front you need to explore

This is a movie that across its 2 hours and 41 minutes features a noxious white supremacist group called the Christmas Adventurers, a snarling Sean Penn character who walks like he has a branding iron permanently stuck up his ass, and an uncomfortably high Leonardo DiCaprio arguing over revolutionary code words with a comrade. And somehow, on top of it all, we get a striking multigenerational story about a family caught up in fighting for what’s right, told with a kind of prescience about the current state of America that will be marveled at for a long time to come.

Film, New ReleasesRobert SnowSeptember 28, 2025one battle after another, 2025, paul thomas anderson, pta, leonardo dicaprio, chase infiniti, benicio del toro, sean penn, regina hall, teyana taylor, movies, reviewComment

REVIEW: 'You Were Never Really Here' commands you to stay

The problem with a lot of crime films is that they often feel the need to explain multiple backstories to their viewers before going for the pay-off moment, rather than dropping them in to the middle of a crisis and saying, “here, figure it out.” There’s no big build-up here; you see things as Joe sees it, and a lot of it doesn’t make sense right away. Joe’s PTSD is as much a character of its own as Joe, and it’s often manifested through quick cuts to Joe suffocating himself with plastic bags or silently drowning in water

Film, New ReleasesJason ChenMay 14, 2018you were never really here, joaquin phoenix, lynne ramsay, thriller, movie, cinema, film, review, criticism, violence, sound, jonny greenwood, paul thomas andersonComment

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