ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER : Tuesday 30th September 2025

I saw the M Rated 'ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER' this week, and this American action thriller film is Written, Co-Produced, and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and is loosely based on the 1990 novel 'Vineland' by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson made his feature film debut with 'Hard Eight' in 1996, which he would follow up with the likes of 'Boogie Nights' in 1997, 'Magnolia' in 1999, 'There Will Be Blood' in 2007, 'Inherent Vice' in 2014, 'Phantom Thread' in 2017 and 'Licorice Pizza' in 2021. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, and nominations for eleven Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Grammy. He is also the only person to have won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. This film was released here in Australia and Stateside last week, has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far grossed US$66M against a production budget of somewhere between US$130 and US$175M.

The film opens with Pat 'Ghetto' Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) who are both very active members of the far-left revolutionary group known as the French 75, busting out detained illegal immigrants from a detention centre in California undercover of darkness. Perfidia wakes the snoozing commanding officer, Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) and humiliates him, while also stealing his cap and his sidearm. Lockjaw develops a sexual fascination with her. Pat and Perfidia become lovers as the French 75 carry out attacks on politicians' offices, banks, and the electricity supply grid. Sometime later Lockjaw catches Perfidia planting a bomb inside a toilet cubicle in a government building, but lets her go after she agrees to have sex at a motel. 

Nine months later and Perfidia gives birth to a baby girl, Charlene, but Pat is unable to convince her to live as a family, saying that he is more interested in baby Charlene that he is in her, and that his revolutionary leanings having given way to fatherhood. She walks out on them both them to continue her revolutionary activities. After Perfidia is captured at a botched bank robbery in which she shoots dead a security guard, Lockjaw arranges for her to avoid prison in exchange for information about the French 75. She enters witness protection as Lockjaw hunts down her comrades and shoots many of them on sight, forcing the others to go on the run. As Pat and Charlene are forced to live in hiding with new assumed identities as Bob and Willa Ferguson, Perfidia escapes Lockjaw's custody and flees across the border into Mexico.

We then fast forward sixteen years, and living in the sanctuary city of Baktan Cross, Bob has become a paranoid drug addict. He is overprotective of Willa (Chase Infiniti), who has grown into a self-reliant and spirited teenager. Through his vigorous anti-immigrant efforts, Lockjaw has gained promotion to the rank of Colonel, and is invited to join the Christmas Adventurers Club, a covert society of white supremacists. He hunts for Willa to cover up his interracial relationship, which is forbidden by the club. He hires an Indigenous bounty hunter, Avanti Q (Eric Schweig), who captures Bob's comrade Howard Sommerville (Paul Grimstad), triggering a distress signal to the remaining French 75. 

Under the auspices of an immigration and drug enforcement operation, Lockjaw dispatches his troops to Baktan Cross to find Bob and Willa. Deandra (Regina Hall), a trusted member of the French 75, rescues Willa before her school dance is raided. Lockjaw's men attack Bob's home while he is high, but he manages to evade capture by escaping through a tunnel and calls the French 75 for help, but is unable to remember the password to mobilise their assistance. 

He seeks out Willa's karate teacher and community leader Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio Del Toro) who evacuates a stream of immigrants through a hidden tunnel. Fleeing with Sergio's skateboarding students across the rooftops, Bob falls while jumping from building to building with only the branches of a tree breaking his fall, and is immediately tasered and arrested. Deandra brings Willa to a convent of revolutionary nuns, where she learns the truth about her mother's betrayal.

The Christmas Adventurers uncover evidence of Lockjaw's relationship with Perfidia, and send a member, Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker), to eliminate him and Willa. Raiding the convent, Lockjaw forcibly tests Willa's DNA, confirming he is her biological father. Her being his biological daughter makes his membership in the Christmas Adventurers Club impossible and he decides to eliminate her. Had she not been his daughter he might have let her go free. 

Sergio arranges for Bob to escape custody and drives him to the convent, throwing him from the car before being pulled over by Police. Hot-wiring another car, Bob reaches the convent but fails to kill Lockjaw with Sergio's rifle. The colonel hires Avanti to kill Willa but he refuses saying that he doesn't kill children and so he agrees to take her to a group of mercenaries, who will kill her. Smith tracks Lockjaw down and shoots him, causing him to crash his car over a ravine at speed, and leaves him for dead hanging upside down and bleeding heavily.

Avanti delivers Willa to the mercenaries, but frees her and dies gunning the others down. Willa takes Avanti's car and pistol and is chased by Smith until she lures him into a crash by exploiting a blind summit along the road. He stumbles out of his car and she shoots him dead when he does not know the revolutionary countersign, and tearfully reunites with Bob who arrives a minute or so later and observes the carnage. An injured and bloodied Lockjaw is seen walking at pace from the scene of his crash, and is later on badly scarred and is seemingly welcomed into the Christmas Adventurers Club. Having been welcomed to his new corner office overlooking the city he sits back in his chair with his feet upon his new desk, and is instead gassed to death and his body immediately cremated in an incinerator. Returning home with his daughter, Bob gives Willa a letter of hope from her mother, and his blessing as she sets off to join a protest some three hours away in Oakland, no longer stressful about his daughter's future. 

There a lot going on in 'One Battle After Another', from the nuances of a father and daughter relationship, to the political machinations that mirror what is going down in the US currently, to the covert operations of an out of control Police force, to the secret cabal of white supremacists, to immigration, revolutionaries, mercenaries for hire and just about everything in between it seems. Here PTA has delivered us the entire package of action, laughs, great characters, a flawless script, and outstanding performances most notably from DiCaprio, Penn, Taylor, Hall and first-timer Chase Infiniti. Make no mistake this would rank as one of the best movies of the year so far, easy Academy Award bait, and even at its lengthy 161 minute run time it will not leave you wanting.

'One Battle After Another' merits five claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 25th September 2025.

This years 63rd edition of the New York Film Festival (NYFF) kicks off on Friday 26th September and runs through until Monday 13th October. This film festival is held every autumn in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. It is one of the longest-running and most prestigious film festivals in the US and is a non-competitive festival centred on a 'Main Slate' of typically 20–30 feature films, with additional sections for experimental cinema and new restorations.

The Opening Film presentation is 'After the Hunt' from Italy and the US and this psychological thriller film is Co-Produced and Directed by Luca Guadagnino, and stars Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny and sees a respected and well liked college professor who is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues is faced with a serious accusation. The Closing Film is 'Is This Thing On?' from the USA and this comedy drama film is Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced, Directed and stars Bradley Cooper, with Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Sean Hayes and Ciaran Hinds. As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while wife Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family, forcing them to navigate co-parenting and identity.

Among the feature film titles selected in the Main Slate category, are the following :-

* 'Father Mother Sister Brother' - from the USA, Ireland, France, Italy and Japan and is Written, Directed and Co-Scored by Jim Jarmusch. This comedy drama anthology film stars Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Waits and Indya Moore. The film serves as the Centrepiece to this years Main Slate.

* 'The Fence' - from France and Written and Directed by Claire Denis, and this drama film stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Tom Blyth, Isaach de Bankole and Matt Dillon. 

* 'A House of Dynamite' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. This political thriller stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Great Lee, Jason Clarke, Kaitlyn Dever and Moses Ingram. 

* 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Mary Bronstein. This psychological comedy drama film stars Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater and ASAP Rocky. 

* 'It Was Just an Accident' - from Iran, France and Luxembourg and this thriller film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jafar Panahi. The film had its World Premiere at the main competition at this years Cannes Film Festival in late May where it won the Palme d'Or.

* 'Jay Kelly' - from the UK, the USA and Italy and is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Noah Baumbach, and this coming of age comedy drama film stars George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Emily Mortimer, Lenny Henry and Isla Fisher.

* 'Late Fame' - from the USA and this drama film is Directed by Kent Jones, and stars Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan. 

* 'The Mastermind' - from the USA and the UK and this heist film is Written, Directed and Edited by Kelly Reichardt, and stars Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, Bill Camp, Hope Davis, John Magaro and Gabby Hoffman.

* 'Miroirs No. 3' - from Germany and Written and Directed by Christian Petzold, and this drama film stars Paula Beer, Barbara Auer and Matthias Brandt. 

* 'No Other Choice' - from South Korea and this satirical black comedy thriller film is Co-Written for the screen, Produced and Directed by Park Chan-wook, and stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran and Cha Seung-won.

* 'Rose of Nevada' - from the UK and this Sci-Fi drama film is Written, Directed, photographed, Edited and Scored by Mark Jenkin and stars George MacKay and Callum Turner.

* 'The Secret Agent' - from Brazil, France, Germany and the Netherlands and this historical political thriller film is Written and Directed by Kleber Mandonca Filho and stars Wagner Moura, Gabriel Leone and Udo Kier. The film had its World Premiere at the main competition at this years Cannes Film Festival in mid-May, where it received widespread acclaim, winning the Best Actor award for Moura, Best Director for Mendonça Filho, the Art House Cinema Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.

* 'Sentimental Value' - from Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the UK and this comedy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Joachim Trier, and stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Elle Fanning. The film had its World Premiere at the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival in late May this year, where it received widespread acclaim and won the Grand Prix.

* 'Sound of Falling' - from Germany and this drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Mascha Schilinski. The film had its World Premiere in the main competition at this years Cannes Film Festival in mid-May where it won the Jury Prize.

* 'What Does That Nature Say to You' - from South Korea and this drama film is Written, Produced, Directed, photographed, Edited and Scored by Hong Sang-soo. 

For the remaining films in the Main Slate section, plus the other strands being showcased including Spotlight Gala, Currents and Revivals, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff/

Turning the attention then back to this weeks slew of five new release American movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we kick off with an action thriller offering that tells the story of when their evil enemy resurfaces after sixteen years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their own's daughter. Then we turn to a horror film that is the second in a planned trilogy that sees a couple's vehicle breaking down, forcing them to take refuge in a remote Airbnb, and as night falls, three masked strangers terrorise them until dawn. This is followed by a drama that tells the true story of the courageous pioneer and robotics coach and the first-ever all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan. Next up we have forty-one years after the release of the groundbreaking mockumentary, the now estranged bandmates are forced to reunite for one final concert; and closing out the week we have Gabby and her Grandma taking a road trip which takes an unexpected turn when her prized dollhouse ends up with an eccentric cat lady.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER' (Rated M) - this American action thriller film is Written, Co-Produced, and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and is loosely based on the 1990 novel 'Vineland' by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson made his feature film debut with 'Hard Eight' in 1996, which he would follow up with the likes of 'Boogie Nights' in 1997, 'Magnolia' in 1999, 'There Will Be Blood' in 2007, 'Inherent Vice' in 2014, 'Phantom Thread' in 2017 and 'Licorice Pizza' in 2021. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, and nominations for eleven Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Grammy. He is also the only person to have won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Bob Fergusson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis resurfaces after sixteen years, and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts. Also starring Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor. The film is released Stateside this week also, and cost somewhere between US$130 and US$175M to produce.

'THE STRANGERS : CHAPTER 2' (Rated MA15+) - is an American horror film Directed by Renny Harlin who has been making films since 1986 and whose most memorable offerings include 'Die Hard 2' in 1990, 'Cliffhanger' in 1993, 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' in 1996, 'Deep Blue Sea' in 1999, 'Driven' in 2001, 'The Misfits' in 2021, 'The Bricklayer' in 2023, and 'The Strangers : Chapter 1' in 2024. This film serves as the fourth film in the series, after 'The Strangers' in 2008, and then 'The Strangers : Prey at Night' in 2018, although this is the second instalment in a new trilogy of films that launched last year with the third outing slated for a release sometime next year, with Renny Harlin also helming that film. Here then, after learning that one of their victims, Maya Lucas (Madelaine Petsch), is still alive (following the events of the first film), three masked maniacs return to finish the job. With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Maya soon finds herself in a brutal fight for survival against psychopaths who are more than willing to kill anyone who stands in their way. Also starring Ganriel Basso and Emma Horvath. The film is released Stateside this week too.

'RULE BREAKERS' (Rated PG) - this American drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Bill Guttentag, the multi-award winning drama and documentary filmmaker who helmed his Oscar winning 'You Don't Have to Die' in 1988, and another Oscar winner 'Twin Towers' in 2002, amongst many others. In a nation where educating girls is seen as rebellion, a visionary woman Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri) dares to teach young minds to dream. When their innovation draws global attention, their success sparks hope, as well as opposition. As threats loom and sacrifices are made, their courage and unity ignite a movement that could forever transform the world. Also starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The film was released in the US in early March this year, has so far grossed US$3M from a circa US$12M production budget and has garnered mixed or average reviews. 

'SPINAL TAP : THE END CONTINUES' (Rated M) - is an American mockumentary film that is Co-Written, Co-Produced, Directed and starring Rob Reiner and is a sequel to the original 1984 cult classic film 'This is Spinal Tap' which was also Directed by Rob Reiner. His other more noteworthy film making credits take in the likes of 'Stand by Me' in 1986, 'The Princess Bride' in 1987, 'When Harry Met Sally . . .' in 1989, 'Misery' in 1990, 'A Few Good Men' in 1992, 'The American President' in 1995 and 'The Bucket List' in 2007. Set around forty years after the first film, film Director Martin Di Bergi (Rob Reiner) creates another video documentary of the reunion and final show of the legendary rock band Spinal Tap, reuniting for the first time in fifteen years for a one night only gig in New Orleans,  consisting of Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Fran Drescher also stars with cameo appearances playing themselves are Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Questlove amongst others. The film was released in the US earlier this month and cost US$23M to produce. 

'GABBY'S DOLLHOUSE : THE MOVIE' (Rated G) - this American musical fantasy comedy film is based on the Netflix series 'Gabby's Dollhouse', is Produced by DreamWorks Animation, and is Co-Written and Directed by Ryan Crego in his feature film making debut. Combining live-action and animation, it stars Laila Lockhart Kraner as Gabby, who reprises her role from the series, as she embarks on a road trip with her grandma GiGi (Gloria Estefan) to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco. But when Gabby's dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera (Kristen Wiig), Gabby sets off on an adventure through the real world, and work together to get the Gabby Cats back together and save the dollhouse before it’s too late. The film is released in the US this week too.

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-