One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson, September 26, 2025) Movie • Page 40

Mexican hairless

 

Sorry for just reading this now. I’m curious how you feel this way—always felt the end is a false sense of hope with Leo’s character handing off the resistance to his black daughter while he kicks back and takes pictures of himself on an iPhone.

 

No that’s a good thing! I’ve changed my interpretation drastically after sitting on the film - which is important. After sitting with your interpretation, it does make a lot of sense and it clicked from that lens. I was originally interpreting the ending to reflect how revolutions stay alive and pass down through generations in different ways. But now that I’ve thought about it, you’re on the money. The neoliberalism of yesteryear results in a placated generation aged out of revolutionary action and relegated to reminiscing of the old days on the internet. However Pat isn’t effective as a revolutionary anymore, even though hes effectively a legend - his place and skillset isn’t applicable in the new era mainly because he got “lazy” just being a father. But if you interpret that as Pat being a stand-in for PTA, it’s more of an indictment of his own personal journey than a larger ideological application. Either way, really amazing movie lol

 

Oh, and another small thing here re:Pat’s laziness and irrelevance…loved that the person on the other end of the phone asking Pat the code words was NOT a young kid as you’d assume….basically showing that Pat’s reluctance to grow was his own fault rather than becoming a father or getting old. He’s stuck reciting old lines and refused to stay in the fight the times call for

 

Totally agree with you. I think my initial frustration with the film was from that interpretation compared against those that found it a sweet “father-daughter moment” ending. I struggled to feel that sweetness as I watched him submit to the couch as she left out the door, and I wasn’t sure what PTA was trying to tell me. After sitting on that paradox, it’s really interesting how it sort of fools the audience in that way.

 

Definitely fooled me lol. But I’m not the most observant film watcher I’ve realized. Makes me like this movie more honestly

 

I think that’s what makes the movie great tbf, it works on a surface level entertainment blockbuster, but also a film that warrants analysis. Even if you don’t get those subtleties it still works

 

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding, but doesn't the hopeful part of the ending come from the daughter making the attempt to potentially do better than her parents? The younger generation making up for the mistakes of the old?

 

I guess it depends on if you view that perspective as hopeful or not. It mostly made me feel that we should all be better for the children.

Edit: I think for me, the idea of a continuous resistance due to a previous generation’s failure, of “one battle after another” is a tough pill to swallow. It’s not hopeful to me; it’s sad. But I think the movie does a great job of balancing both.

 

My take, which I don’t think is at odds with anything said above, is a melancholy feeling of the cyclical nature of it all. Struggles are never truly resolved so much as they are reshaped and passed on from generation to generation. If you’re lucky, you get to experience a period of hopeful momentum in your lifetime but it is nearly impossible to sustain for internal and external reasons.

 

I do see it both ways. Yes, the current generation should be considering what they're leaving for the next generation. And chances are more likely the world is being passed down to people who learned their parents' behavior, so it becomes a true cycle.

But in the end, isn't that what hope is? A lie we tell ourselves to remain positive and not fall into despair? I'd rather hold on to the idea that things can still get better in the right hands than the idea that we've all failed each other.

 

I think the movie is a success in getting us to ask these questions. Overall, I’m not sure whether PTA views it as inherently hopeful or not, though I’m glad we get to discuss it. That chase scene with the rolling hills was one of the most memorable of the year, and resonates even more as a symbol of those generational cycles.

 

‘One Battle After Another’ Named Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics

2026 National Society of Film Critics Winners List

 

Ok man calm down

 

I only posted that because of the large font!!!

 

aaaaand best picture

 

I see pockets of online spaces where folks are saying it’s over-hyped and actually not great but it is great and deserves awards. The end.

 

No surprise, but this film is absolutely gonna clean up at Awards shows these next few months.

 

shirt goes hard

 

Let’s go Teyana Taylor