13 Nights of Shocktober: Phantasm

by A.J.

 

Night 5: Reggie Bannister Memorial Night 

"You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die."

 

Phantasm 

 

Earlier this year, musician, actor, and producer Reggie Bannister passed away at the age of 80. That name might not be familiar to many, but to horror fans Reggie Bannister is beloved for his role in the Phantasm films as Reggie, the pony-tail sporting guitar playing ice cream man turned monster fighting action hero. Though Reggie became the unlikely lead and co-star of rest of the Phantasm series, which had is most recent and likely final entry only a few years ago, his character began as a supporting character in the first Phantasm, which is the only space to start the Phantasm series since each sequel is part of one continuous story. And it's also the best of the series.

Phantasm is a great example of a cult classic: it may not have mainstream recognition, and it may have flaws, but it has enthusiastic fans. Describing individual scenes and plot points can make Phantasm sound odd or even ridiculous and the plot itself does not hold up to scrutiny. Yet, Phantasm is effectively creepy and scary because it relies more on atmosphere and the main character’s fear and fascination with the things he witnesses and encounters than on plot. Dreams, nightmares, and the line between fantasy and reality also play a large part.  I suppose this is what some would call a vibes movie.

On that front, writer-director Don Coscarelli does a great job keeping us in the emotional and mental space of the main character, 13-year-old Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), who is still dealing with the death of parents. He also has anxiety that his older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury), a musician, secretly wants to leave him with a relative. After witnessing strange things around the local cemetery, Mike comes to believe that the tall, grim-faced undertaker has a sinister plan that involves stealing recently buried bodies. Of course, Jody is skeptical but as danger mounts, he and his friend, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), the local ice cream man, join Mike to stop the undertaker, also known as The Tall Man. 

 

Coscarelli makes great use of long shots that play out slowly. He also uses slow motion with eerie effectiveness when Mike sees The Tall Man walking through town. At first, it is jarring to see him out in daylight then he pauses by Reggie’s ice cream truck to savor the cool air from the freezer. The slow motion and exaggerated sound design make a simple moment unnerving and surreal.

 

On the more ostentatious side of Phantasm are the flying metallic orbs that stab people in the face with daggers and then drill a hole in their head and make blood shoot out the back. There purpose is clear: elaborate, horrific death. But like many things about Phantasm the “why” remains a mystery. There are also the hooded dwarves that Mike sees running around the cemetery. They resemble the Jawas from Star Wars, released only two years before Phantasm, but Coscarelli said this was a coincidence. Next to the orbs, what everyone remembers about Phantasm is Angus Scrimm as The Tall Man. Tall, slender, dressed in black, imposing and intimidating, he is like a personification of the boogeyman. The most frighting sight in Phantasm is Mike’s nightmare of The Tall Man looming over his bed.

 

Phantasm is more than the sum of its parts. From scene to scene its flaws are easy to overlook because the story is already on to the next thing. After the credits roll, it still casts a creepy spell. Horror spectacle does not stand in the way of exploring an adolescent’s fear and fascination with growing up and with death. The final scenes seem to come out of nowhere and close the film on an ambiguous note, but tonally and thematically they match everything that has come before. 

 

It is in these quiet and emotional scenes that Reggie has more lines and character depth than has in the whole movie and he and Mike develop a deep bond. Reggie and Mike’s relationship, essentially becoming an adopted family, is what drives the rest of the Phantasm films. Each is a horror film but Part II, made nine years later, is a horror-action movie (this is where Reggie combines two double barreled shotguns to make a super 4-barrelled shotgun, which of course becomes his signature weapon through the sequels). Part III: Lord of the Dead leans into comedy and is also a road trip movie. Part IV: Oblivion goes back to the meditative side of the original and even uses unused footage from the original shoot. The final entry, Ravager, which Coscarelli did not direct, aims for both action and esoteric meditation. Each is entertaining in its own way. Each has Reggie and Mike fighting The Tall Man and looking out for each other. Reggie Bannister is a most unlikely action hero and that is the appeal. He’s just a ponytail wearing, guitar playing ice-cream man who has to protect the people he cares about.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Tomb of Ligeia

by A.J. 

 

Night 4: Vincent Price Night 

"She will not rest because she is not dead…to me."

 

The Tomb of Ligeia 

 

It's just not Shocktober without Vincent Price. The Tomb of Ligeia is the 8th and final film of what came to be known as the Corman-Poe cycle, that is: movies produced and directed by the legendary Roger Corman, based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe (or at least titled after Poe works), released by American International Pictures, and starring Vincent Price (the only exception being The Premature Burial (1962), starring Ray Milland). These films, like a great many Corman movies, vary in quality, but Price and Corman together mean you are in for a good time.

Naturally, any movie based on an Edgar Allen Poe story requires expansion and it is a pleasant surprise to see the adaptation was written by Robert Towne, one of many Hollywood legends who got their start with Corman—Towne would later win an Oscar for writing Chinatown and become a revered screenwriter. While the screenplay adds a lot, the eerie gothic tone of Poe is strong as are many Poe-esque themes such as being haunted by a lost love, black cats, and mesmerism. Set in vaguely the 19th century, Vincent Price plays Verden Fell, a wealthy widower whose dead wife Ligeia, a scandalous figure when she was alive, still looms large over his life. Ligeia insisted that she would never die and Fell treats her as such until he meets Rowena, who is instantly drawn to his outsider charms and goth style. He indeed makes a striking impression dressed in black with a top hat, cane, and strange but stylish wraparound sunglasses, perhaps a bit too stylish for the 19th century. The sunglasses he says are "the result of a rather morbid reaction to sunlight." However, as the film goes on, he needs the sunglasses less and less until they are forgotten. Elizabeth Shepperton plays both the dark, evil Ligeia and the sweet Rowena. Not long after Rowena and Fell get married, she finds herself troubled by Fell’s inexplicable disappearances at night. It is clear the spirit of Ligeia means to possess Rowena, although the movie is not entirely clear on how this works, but a black cat seems to be involved. In one of the standout sequences Rowena follows a mysterious black cat through the house into a bell tower while Price’s voiceover delivers a monologue about Ligeia and death. This stylistic touch adds to the surreal off-kilter nature of the scene because it seems so out of style with previous Corman movies, or American movies in general, and more influenced by the French New Wave.

 

Price delivers a different take on the man-driven-to-madness character that he often played throughout his horror career, and especially in the Corman-Poe movies. He is more sympathetic here because as the movie goes on it becomes clear that he lacks agency—this is where the mesmerism comes into play. In at least one interview Price spoke fondly of "Ligeia" but it is a role that he almost did not get. Corman wanted a younger actor, but AIP would not fund the movie unless Price played the lead. Corman says that Price's age was his only concern with his casting; the producer side of Corman no doubt wanted a younger actor to bring in a younger audience. Price's performance is proof that he was the right choice.

 

The climax of the movie has Price battling an evil black cat, which of course is just a regular cat and/or cat puppet thrown at him from off screen. He does his best to sell it when the cat attacks (is thrown at) his face and he has to wrestle with it. On one hand it works in camp value and is fun, on the other it does not match the eerie gothic story we have just seen. Like Corman's infamous The Terror, one of the ultimate so-bad-it’s-good movies, Tomb of Ligeia requires a servant character to come right out and explain what exactly has been happening the whole time. Unlike The Terror, what the servant reveals more or less makes sense. Robert Towne admits that he and Corman were a mismatch creatively. Towne thought that supernatural and psychological explanations should be equally plausible. Corman wanted a straightforward horror story.

The gothic atmosphere is enhanced greatly thanks to filming, at least in part, on location in England. The half-crumbled walls and archways of Castle Acre Priory are great scenery and make for eye-catching shots. Even more gothic atmosphere comes surprisingly from the use of pre-psychedelic imagery: blue and green candles, Rowena's colorful flowing gowns and robes, and, of course, Price's sunglasses. Rowena's dream has some striking and surreal imagery like a bouquet of flowers with a bleeding fox head.

 

Unfortunately, The Tomb of Ligeia did not do as well at the box office. The Corman-Poe cycle felt played out and after 7 films together in 4 years, Corman, Price, and the public were ready for something different. Yet, this does not mean that Ligeia is a lesser entry in the Corman-Poe cycle. The Tomb of Ligeia is a good spooky-but-not-scary movie, a good moody horror movie bridging the transition from the classic to modern eras.

 

The Tomb of Ligeia is available to stream on Prime Video, Hoopla, and Youtube.  

13 Nights of Shocktober: Together

by A.J. 

Night 3: Body Horror Night

"What awaits is the ultimate intimacy in divine flesh."

Together

2025 was a very good year for horror with the two standouts being without a doubt Ryan Coogler's Sinners and Zach Cregger's Weapons both of which were box office hits, pop culture phenomena, earned critical acclaim, and even won Academy Awards. Lost in the shuffle between these horror juggernauts was the intriguing body horror movie Together. While it did not exactly go under the radar, it did not get the attention I felt it deserved. Now that it is available on DVD/Blu-ray and currently streaming (on Hulu), this Shocktober is your opportunity to have a squirm-inducing but emotionally provoking experience.

Real life couple Allison Brie and Dave Franco play Mille and Tim, a long-committed but still unmarried couple who move from their trendy city life to a secluded house in the country for Millie’s new teaching job. Their farewell party is marred by Tim’s awkward response to Millie’s surprise marriage proposal. Separately, their friends express reservations about their move and their relationship in general. While exploring hiking trails they fall into a cavern and end up drinking water from a natural well. Soon after they return home, they become physically drawn to each other, like magnets, with their body parts becoming stuck together.

First time feature writer-director Michael Shanks is not shy about his influences, especially John Carpenter's The Thing and Japanese Horror movies, like Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure. Thankfully, he, unlike many filmmakers across genres today, takes only inspiration from these other films and filmmakers without drawing attention to his influences and references. Though Shanks did not mention David Cronenberg or Clive Barker as influences, there is a strong case for their work being an indirect influence. Shanks makes great use of the overhead, or God's-eye view, shot which adds a subtle, almost subliminal, off kilter feeling to those scenes specifically as well as to the movie as a whole. Shanks also plays with audience expectations, especially horror audience expectations, particularly in the scene where Millie uses a power saw to separate their now attached forearms. Tension builds as Millie and Tim realize this is somehow their best option. Just before the sawblade touches their skin Millie stops suddenly to point out that Tim was right about their bodies acting like magnets. It is a nice comic beat that acts as a mild release before the tension swells again.

Other scenes do not shy away from the body horror. Tim and Millie stuck in a compromising position in a public bathroom stall is graphic and very painful to watch. Another exploration of the cavern reveals what can only be described as “a creature” that is as disturbing as it is impressive; it’s the kind of thing you want to look away from but cannot. There is a fair amount of quality CGI effects, but also practical effects are used for great squirm inducing effect. Likewise, the sound of crunching bones does perhaps even more than the imagery to create the horror.

Of course, what pushes the special effects beyond shock value to being meaningful are Brie and Franco’s performances. It is not necessarily a given that a real-life couple will do well at playing a couple on screen. Thankfully Brie and Franco are very good for their respective roles. Tim and Millie have issues with themselves and with each other, but they have a functional relationship. Whether they are co-dependent or not, and whether that is necessarily a bad thing or not will depend on the viewer. This is an effective body horror movie because it is not a gross out movie. The horror is a manifestation of the fears and anxieties of the characters, which are relatable fears of many in relationships.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Jurassic Park

by A.J. 

Night 2: Sam Neil Memorial Night

An Adventure 65 Million Years In The Making

Jurassic Park

Earlier this year, the great Sam Neill passed away at the age of 78 leaving behind an eclectic decades-long filmography. He could play many different kinds of characters with ease whether they were supporting roles, villains, or the lead. I’ve previously recommended what I think are his best horror movies (In the Mouth of Madness and Possession), so this year my Sam Neill Memorial recommendation is his most famous movie: Jurassic Park

Is Jurassic Park a horror movie? Well, No, not really. Is it a monster movie? Spielberg says, no. He purposefully did not want to make a monster a movie and was determined to make something more than a "genre" picture [horror movie]. Jurassic Park is certainly something special, but I might argue that it is secretly a monster movie. Is it a nature run amok movie? Absolutely. Is it scary? Yes. Certain scenes are as frightening as anything from the best horror movies. Is it a Shocktober movie? Yes, most definitely.

Neill plays Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist who is invited, along with his girlfriend, Dr. Ellie Sadler (Laura Dern), a paleobotanist, by entrepreneur Mr. Hammond (David Attenbough) to tour, and hopefully endorse, his new “biological preserve.” The animals on the island preserve turn out to be dinosaurs, to the astonishment and wonder of the characters and audiences alike, but, unfortunately, the park is sabotaged during a tropical storm, and dino mayhem ensues. 

Even with a cast that includes Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, and Samuel L. Jackson, the real stars are the dinosaurs. It might be hard to explain to younger viewers just how groundbreaking and awe-inspiring the dinosaur effects were, but then again, maybe not because the CGI effects in today’s mega budget blockbusters does not come close to looking as good as even Jurassic Park's test demo footage from 1993. Jurassic Park may be one of the few movies where the reactions from the characters truly mirror that of the audience, whether they are wonderstruck or frightened.

Even though the movie has two kid characters, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello), the excitement and childlike wonder and joy of seeing living dinosaurs is conveyed most effectively through Sam Neill. The moment of him fumbling to get his sunglasses off is the perfect set up for the first time we see a dinosaur, a brachiosaurus eating from tree tops. In the shot of him lying on the belly of a sick triceratops feeling and listening to it breathe, Neill shows such genuine joy that of course the modern internet turned it into a meme. Even after the T-Rex attack and everything with the park goes wrong, Grant is still fascinated by the dinosaurs; by brachiosaur that surprises them in a treetop (“Just think of it as a big cow,” he tells Lex, who has had enough of being around dinosaurs); by the dinosaur eggs that prove life does indeed find a way; by the galimimuses that move like a flock of birds. Yet, Grant is also the main source of skepticism about a dinosaur theme park. His reaction to the very idea of velociraptors at the park tells us how dangerous, and clever, they are.  

The Tyrannosaurus Rex attack is terrifying. It seems to go on and on the way that real moments of terror feel like they will never end. The scene of Nedry (Wayne Knight), the park’s traitorous computer programmer, and the dilophosaurus in the rainy wilderness is a lot scarier than any scene of a teenager coming across a slasher in the woods. The scene of the raptors stalking Lex and Tim through the park’s large industrial kitchen really is like something out of a horror movie, specifically The Shining where axe wielding Jack stalks Danny through the Overlook Hotel’s large industrial kitchen. I think the scariest scene is the opening prologue where park workers load a new velociraptor into the raptor pen only for it to attack one of the workers. It is done very simply and we see very little, but it is very intense nonetheless. 

Even with two direct sequels and a multi-movie reboot franchise, the original is not diminished; it does not feel quaint by comparison. If anything, it holds up better than the sequels and reboots. Jurassic Park still holds wonder and adventure and thrills. 

Jurassic Park is currently available to stream on Starz, rent on Prime Video and other sources. It's also available on DVD/Blu-ray/4K and probably at your local library.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Golem (1920)

by A.J.

Night 1: Silent Horror Night

“He is my servant and my creation, called Golem. More I cannot say.”

The Golem (1920)

When it comes to silent horror films, the most famous are undoubtedly Nosferatu (1922), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). The Golem (1920) is usually not far behind, and it certainly belongs in the cannon of silent horror classics. Like Caligari and Nosferatu, The Golem is a German Expressionist film, a style in which filmmakers sought to visually express emotions or psychological state rather than reality. This film does not have the extremely exaggerated and surreal production design like Robert Weine’s Caligari, but eerie sights abound. It may not carry the same kind of scares as Phantom, Nosferatu, and Caligari, but its blend of folklore and fantasy make for an interesting film.

The Golem: How He Came Into The World: Pictures Based on Events in an Old Chronicle by Paul Wegener: Five Chapters, or The Golem for short, is the only surviving film of a trilogy by director Paul Wegener, who also played the Golem. The first film, The Golem (1915), was based on a novel by Gustav Meyrink that moved the medieval story to modern times, and the second, The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917), was a comedy. This third and final Golem film was meant to serve as a prequel of sorts telling the most well-known version of the legend.

In the Jewish quarter of Prague, the wise and mystical Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinrück) reads in the stars that a catastrophe is looming over his people. Then a royal decree is announced demanding all Jewish people leave the city before the next new moon. So, Rabbi Loew creates and brings to life the Golem, a large hulking figure made of clay, to serve him and save the Jewish people of Prague. Of course, if Rabbi Loew loses control over his new servant, it could mean the destruction of not only the Jewish quarter but the entire city and beyond.

The scene of Rabbi Loew summoning the dreaded spirit Astaroth to force it to reveal the animating word for the Golem is creepy and nightmarish. The entire scene is tinted green and eerie flames surround Loew and his assistant. Astaroth appears as a giant stone head with a gargoyle-like face, smoke bellowing from its mouth. The Golem itself is an odd-looking creation. Like Frankenstein’s Creature, he is a larger version of a man but with a bulky body, grim facial expression, and helmet-like hair that would put Dark Helmet from Spaceballs to shame. Since the Golem is a servant, he starts out doing errands like going to the market, which is an amusing scene.

Another striking scene comes when the Golem encounters a little girl outside of the city gates. It is an especially tense moment because by this point the Golem has already killed someone and begun his rampage. It is strikingly similar to the scene in James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) where the Monster encounters the little girl by the pond, though both creations are at different points in their journeys and the results are very different. Since no such scene appears in Mary Shelley’s novel and the Hollywood horror filmmakers of the early 1930’s were influenced by German Expressionist films (The Golem cinematographer Karl Freund would go on to direct The Mummy (1932) and Mad Love (1935)), it’s not unreasonable to think that Frankenstein drew on The Golem in direct and indirect ways.

Like many silent films The Golem suffered from neglect and deterioration and had to be restored from various versions found in film vaults across the world. It is in the public domain and can easily be found Youtube, however, quality restorations can be found on DVD/Blu-ray released by Kino Lorber. It is also streaming on Kanopy.

Best Pictures #128: My Pick for Best Picture of 2025

by A.J.

 Best Pictures #128: My Pick for Best Picture of 2025

The 98th Academy Awards

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony for films released in 2025 was held on March 15th, 2026. Conan O'Brien once again hosted, bringing his lively persona and humor to the ceremony; all of the non-Conan related comedy, such as forced banter between presenters, fell flat. Sound problems seemed to persist throughout the ceremony, most notably during Barbara Streisand's spoken tribute to the late, great Robert Redford; when it was time for her to sing, Barbara had a different microphone. 

Before the ceremony even began this was already a historic Academy Awards with Sinners earning the most nominations of any film in Academy history. This indeed did turn out to be a historic Academy Awards ceremony for a few different reasons. The frontrunner for Original Song, Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters, won to no one's surprise; but it became the first K-Pop song to win an Academy Award. Sinners won only 4 of its 16 nominations, but one of them was for Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Cinematography, making her the first woman to win that category. Sinners also won Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, and Original Score for Ludwig Göransson. A rare tie, only the 7th in the 98years, in the Live Action Short category, between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva, shook things up, and no doubt helped certain Oscar pools. Amy Madigan now holds the record for longest gap between nominations with 40 years passing between her Supporting Actress nomination for Twice in a Lifetime and her second nomination for the horror movie Weapons. Thankfully the wait was worth it and she took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. 

Overall the class of nominees for 2025 turned out to be eclectic group. Two foreign language movies, The Secret Agent form Brazil and Sentimental Value from Norway) were nominated for both Best Picture and Best International Feature, making that category a bit tricky to predict. Ultimately, Sentimental Value took home to Norway the Best International Feature Oscar. The Academy's aversion to horror is well known so it is very satisfying that two horror films, Frankenstein and Sinners were included in the Best Picture nominees. F1, a big budget crowd pleaser and Train Dreams, a small, thoughtful personal drama, both earned recognition. Marty Supreme, about a table tennis hustler in the 1950's, and Hamnet, about Anne Hathaway/Shakespeare, are both period dramas inspired by fictionalized representations of real people and were included as well. Only the Academy's love of Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos explain Bugonia's inclusion in the Best Picture nominees. Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another ended up being the big winner of the night, taking home 6 Oscars, including the big award, Best Picture. 

My Pick for Best Picture of 2025: One Battle After Another

It's no secret that I am a fan of writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson; I have been since I saw Magnolia in theaters when I was 14. He has long been on the Academy's radar, earning nominations, without winning, since 1997's Boogie Nights, so his wins for Best Adapted Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture, are, on one hand, a long time coming. On the other, One Battle After Another is a singular cinematic achievement. Anderson is such a talented and skilled filmmaker that any one of his films ranks among the best of its respective year. No matter the subject matter or the setting, his films have the sprawling scope and feel of an epic (with Hard Eight and Punch Drunk Love being the still excellent exceptions). The characters in his movies are allowed complexities and contradictions and unspoken motivations, allowing for captivating performances from the cast. Each P.T. Anderson picture feels like a treat. One Battle After Another is no different. Many things make this movie timely, and thus political, but the core of the movie is about a father and daughter; about parents wanting to protect their children from the problems of the past and realizing that is not possible; about how hope rests in the next generation. This is what will give One Battle After Another a lasting resonance no matter political landscape may be. I can't wait to see this P.T. Anderson movie again and I can't wait to see the next one. 

Best Pictures #127: 2025 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: One Battle After Another

by A.J. 

Best Pictures #127: 2025 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

One Battle After Another

“Do the revolution, baby. Go do it.”

At first glance One Battle After Another can seem like an intimidating film. Certain images and plot points seem like they have been ripped from the headlines and reflect current news coverage almost too strongly. The plot is serious but the main character is out of his depth to a comedic but frightening degree. There is also the lengthy runtime of 2hours 42 minutes. Yet, from the first shot to the last, master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson has crafted a thoroughly engrossing and captivating one of a kind film. This is an action movie, a satire, a thriller, a family drama, a comedy, a chase movie. It received an impressive 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, and is indeed a most Oscar worthy movie. 

The runtime is long but need not be intimidating. The first 30 minutes breeze by like the first 10 minutes of most other movies. This is all the more impressive since so much information is clearly and cleanly delivered without feeling rushed. This steady pace continues throughout the rest of the movie. The Best Editing nomination for Andy Jurgensen is certainly deserved. The shifts in tone may sound jarring–one scene will be serious and tense, another will be slapstick comedy–but they are never abrupt or take you out of the experience. No scene or character feels out of place because this was meant to be a strange movie. 

Plotwise and character-wise there is a lot to unpack, but nothing is ever hard to follow. From what I understand, Anderson’s screenplay is only loosely based on the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland, about a group of Nixon-era radicals dealing with living in the Reagan-era. Anderson moves the story to a time resembling the present day, even when the story jumps forward 16 years; it’s worth noting that no specific year is ever given. In the world of this movie, the military seems to be the police or the police have been so militarized that there is no difference. The branch of the military that the villain, Col. Stephen J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn, in one of his best performances), belongs to is never stated. He uses all the resources at his disposal, including unnecessary immigrant raids and inciting a riot, to pursue a personal vendetta against the main characters and secure a place in the secret right-wing white supremacist cabal that runs the country and calls themselves the Christmas Adventurers Club. They greet each other by saying “Hail Saint Nick.” Again, this movie is meant to be strange.

Lockjaw’s vendetta stems from his hate and desire for a member of the revolutionary group The French 75 named Perfidia Beverly Hills (Supporting Actress nominee Teyana Taylor in an extremely memorable but brief performance). After she disappears, Lockjaw then pursues her romantic partner, who now goes by Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and spends his days getting stoned and watching old movies, and Perfidia’s now teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), who thinks her dad’s talk about secret codes and surveillance is just paranoia. Lockjaw swoops in, Willa goes on the run, and Bob has to spring back into action, but the springs are 50 years old and very rusty.  

Leonardo DiCaprio is great at playing a dad, especially the type that thinks they are the “cool dad.” One of the funniest scenes of any movie from last year is Bob grilling Willa’s friends who stop by to take her to the school dance; the way he calls one of them “homie” is comedic gold. I think the one quick moment that best encapsulates his character is when he greets a group of Hispanics not with hello but with a very earnest, “Viva Zapata.” Maybe the biggest hurdle Bob faces is remembering the password to get the location of the rendezvous point from the annoying and obdurate revolutionary hotline operator.  His main ally, and in many ways the secret hero of the movie, is Sensei Sergio (Benicio Del Toro), whose unshakable calmness is a much needed counterpoint to Bob’s franticness and is very funny in its own way. 

For some viewers and critics this movie is too political, for others it is not political enough. There are no didactic scenes or speeches. Anderson’s screenplay makes no attempt to solve the issues and political situations that force the characters into their positions. Such an attempt would be reductive to the real world issues the movie mirrors and come across as foolish, no matter how sincere. The core of the story is a parent trying to protect their child. The main theme, which again is never stated, is that the good fight is never done. These are the things that will give One Battle After Another a lasting resonance beyond the current time.  

The look of the movie is absolutely fantastic with Oscar nominated cinematography by Michael Bauman. Two sequences in particular stand out. The first is the nighttime run across rooftops of Bob and a group of Hispanic teenagers as they are lit by fiery chaos below. The second is the climactic car chase over the sharp hills of a lonely stretch of desert road. This is one of the best photographed scenes of action in years (maybe only Top Gun: Maverick comes close in comparison). 

With Hard Eight and Punch Drunk Love being the (still superb) exceptions, Paul Thomas Anderson always finds a way to give his movies a sprawling epic feel. No matter the story or the setting, his films do not unfold the way you might expect. Also, no matter the story or setting, he finds humor in the most unlikely scenarios, which goes a long way to making his films approachable and entertaining. I’m not sure where I would rank One Battle After Another in Anderson’s filmography, but among the movies of 2025 it ranks at the top. 

One Battle After Another is available to stream on HBOmax.

Nominees: Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson, producers Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti Production Companies: Warner Bros. Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Release Date: September 26th, 2025 Total Nominations: 13, including Best Picture Other Nominations: Actor-Leonardo DiCaprio; Director-Paul Thomas Anderson; Supporting Actor-Benicio Del Toro; Supporting Actor-Sean Penn; Supporting Actress-Teyana Taylor; Adapted Screenplay-Paul Thomas Anderson; Cinematography-Michael Bauman; Production Design Florencia Martin (production designer), Anthony Carlino (set decorator); Editing-Andy Jurgensen; Original Score-Jonny Greenwood; Sound-José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor; Casting-Cassandra Kulukundis