Movie review
September 23, 2025 · 162 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
This 2025 black comedy action-thriller, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, updated to a contemporary setting. It follows a washed-up white revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) from the mostly Black activist group French 75 raising his biracial daughter (Chase Infiniti) while evading a corrupt military officer (Sean Penn) tied to white supremacists and immigration enforcement raids. Themes of anti-fascism, generational trauma from activism, interracial family dynamics, and resistance to authoritarian institutions are central and clearly noticeable through plot, action, and satire, though balanced by critiques of the radicals’ flaws and personal focus.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for One Battle After Another.
Woke representation / casting
Diverse revolutionaries (Black women leaders, biracial central daughter) and racial dynamics (interracial affair, white supremacist villain) are plot-central and visible, but some critics noted stereotypes rather than pure emphasis.
Woke political dialogue
Explicit anti-authoritarian and anti-fascist elements via action, raids, and supremacist caricatures; not constant speeches but drives the narrative.
Identity-driven story themes
Interracial paternity, Black activism vs. white supremacy, and generational legacy are recurring and audience-noticeable.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Core focus on critiquing militarized immigration enforcement, white supremacy, and state power as oppressive.
Woke character or canon changes
Loose Vineland adaptation with modern updates; no public debate framed changes as ideological swaps or canon alterations.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Heavy conservative “woke propaganda” framing; secondary left-side representation debates; not exaggerated but ideologically driven.
Creator track record context
Aligns with PTA’s shift to more political material here but does not reflect a consistent activist pattern in his filmography.
Production
