Leonardo DiCaprio in “One Battle After Another.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rotten Tomatoes reviews are out for One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and it appears that the movie has found a lot of allies.
Rated R, One Battle After Another plays in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for One Battle After Another reads, “Washed-up revolutionary Bob (DiCaprio) exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as father and daughter both battle the consequences of his past.”
Also written by Anderson, One Battle After Another also stars Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor.
As of Thursday, One Battle After Another has earned a 98% “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 157 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus reads, “An epic screwball adventure teeming with awe-inspiring action set pieces, One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson’s most entertaining film yet, while also one of his most thematically rich.”
RT’s audience summary and Popcornmeter score are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘One Battle After Another’?
Alison Willmore of New York Magazine/Vulture is among the top critics on RT who gives the film a “fresh” take, writing in her review summary, “One Battle After Another is top-tier Paul Thomas Anderson — not as good as There Will Be Blood or Phantom Thread but so much better than the average movie that it seems to belong in a different medium entirely.”
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also awards the film a “fresh” review on RT, writing, “One Battle After Another is at once serious and unserious, exciting and baffling, a tonal fusion sending that crazy fizz across the VistaVision screen — an acquired taste, yes, but addictive.”
Jake Coyle of The Associated Press also gives high marks to One Battle After Another on RT, writing, “I’m sure that will bring debate, just as any good movie does. And I’m sure some will find its American portrait muddled and chaotic. But those aspects feel true, too, just as does the movie’s abiding fighting spirit.”
Kevin Maher of The Times (U.K.) predicts a big awards season nod in his “fresh” review on RT, writing, “I’m not sure if it’s [Paul Thomas] Anderson’s masterpiece, and though [Sean] Penn is funny in the role of the crazed colonel, he frequently veers towards cartoonish and almost ruins his scenes. Still, it’s an easy Best Picture Oscar nomination in the bag.”
Meanwhile, Alex Godfrey of Empire Magazine is looking past the Oscars with a big prediction for One Battle After Another’s future, writing in his RT summary, “In years to come, when this appears on TV late at night, it’ll be impossible to switch off. It’s just one of those films. A stone-cold, instant classic.”
William Bibbiani of The Wrap is one of the few top critics on RT who gives One Battle After Another a “rotten” review, writing, “It’s possible, maybe even likely, that Paul Thomas Anderson has stuffed so much into one movie that a lot of people will find something to take away from it. All I see is the lack of focus.”
Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine also gives the film a “rotten” review on RT, writing, “Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy One Battle After Another turns overreaching into an art form.”
One Battle After Another plays in Thursday previews and opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/09/25/does-dicaprios-one-battle-after-another-win-over-rotten-tomatoes-critics/
