Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s newest odyssey of a film, One Battle After Another is when a sociopolitical Armageddon hits a postmodern world. Social revolutionaries of the French 75 played by: Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Shayna McHayle, and many more, do whatever it takes to liberate captured civilians swept away from their families by diabolical, bigoted government forces. “Coming out in this as two completely different types of strong Black female revolutionaries in a film—that is epic,” Hall says to me during an evening chat at a Hollywood hotel, sitting alongside her scene partner and friend, Teyana Taylor. Taylor fills the bootstraps of Perfidia Beverly Hills, a formidable leader armed with a rifle fighting for the cause, her main prerogative is to overtake the institutions that imprison and attack vulnerable groups. Hills’ partner-and-lover in action “Ghetto Pat” is a bombmaker played by Leonardo DiCaprio, he gives the character emotional tangibility with moments of fervor and many beats packed with comedic playfulness. Perfidia and “Ghetto Pat” (Leonardo DiCaprio) ignite an explosive relationship showcasing how an intoxicating lover like Pat is dangerously in love with Miss Beverly Hills.
During our conversation, Taylor dons a Perfidia Beverly Hills sweater adorned with a gold Schiaparelli chain, cuffs, and ring. The 34-year-old actress seems refreshed as she speaks about Perfidia with conviction and care. “[The role] came at the right time for me because I was in the space of survival mode,” Taylor relates. “So to bring this character to life who was very much also in survival mode just hit right on the nail. You don’t necessarily agree with everything Perfidia had going on but for the most part… she stands ten toes down on what she believes. She is the literal epitome of ‘I put myself first.’ No matter what it cost her.”
The vehement characters DiCaprio and Taylor inhabit end up having a daughter out of wedlock during a time where their society is on the brink of anarchy. Anderson sets up their tumultuous familyhood and the film jumps off after everything changes over the time span of the 16 years. “The script of One Battle After Another was incredibly pertinent for our times,” Leonardo DiCaprio says to me on a Tuesday morning at a West Hollywood hotel. “It talks about extremism on both ends. It’s very topical. [Paul Thomas Anderson] wrote this over a decade ago, but more so than that, he wrote an incredible odyssey about family dynamics… about where we are in the state of the world right now.”
One Battle After Another’s first act is full of unexpected warfare and emotional hot-headedness that is hurled at you like shrapnel from a bomb being set off by DiCaprio under Taylor’s affectionate direction. The second act resuscitates life into Bob Ferguson who gave up on the French 75 and takes on the alias after being on the run from Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who symbolizes the ultimate military villain who lacks humanity similar to a programmed Terminator, based within the fictional barren city of Baktan Cross. Anderson pulled inspiration from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel, Vineland and the cinematic crusade mirrors the lofty character dynamics lifted from the immersive pages of the book. Benicio Del Toro is Sensei Sergio, the Karate mentor to Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti), who is acting in her first feature role and this is certainly her breakout shining moment as a budding star onscreen. “Willa is the hope for the future,” Infiniti lights up as she speaks about Thomas’s intention for the character. “She is the hope for the good in the future and even though the French 75 — their heart was in the right place, and even though their means of execution were not always correct, their heart was in the right place. And Willa, you hope, will do the right thing and do it the correct way and make the change in the world.”
Within a time of American history where political parties feel more divisive than ever and, One Battle After Another applies a magnifying glass to the way humans can’t reach resolution when we only hyperfocus on our differences. “My character is involved in showing some compassion for those families that get swept away and get separated,” Del Toro explains. “That’s a part of the story but the movie’s not really just about that. There’s many things—there’s a lot of humor. There’s a lot of heart. At the heart of it is a father daughter relationship but regarding what’s happening right now for my character, it shows that side of compassion.”
Perfidia Beverly Hills and Deandra (Regina Hall) are the leading soldiers in Anderson’s action-drama. Taylor is accustomed to playing forceful characters who have perplexing emotions about motherhood, and in A Thousand and One, Taylor earned her stripes as a performer and acclaim. In One Battle After Another, she is putting up a good fight in the race to contend for an Oscar nomination. “Your tribe, your support system around you is not taking Perfidia’s mental health seriously,” Taylor says. “What I saw was a woman going through postpartum depression and not feeling seen and not feeling heard and feeling nobody’s gonna show up for me, I gotta show up for myself again.” Perfidia’s will to devote her life to freeing the world comes at a cost when she feels isolated in her own home.
“Her views, how she handled things as a mom is not something that I would do as a mom but at the same time; where we have to give her grace and compassion is that mothers have to deal with their postpartum depression,” Taylor continues. “You can’t control yourself unless people are stepping in,” Teyana holds her character near and dear to her heart. Hall’s Deandra was more stoically withdrawn in nature. “I’ve done a lot of comedy, so I’m usually very verbal in films and this was a quieter performance, a very much more internal performance,” Hall follows up sarcastically. “In the landscape of the film. I don’t know. I don’t know what [Paul] saw. I’m never quiet around him.”
Teyana pays her respects to the lauded filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love) and how he steers a set forward. “You know as an upcoming director,” Taylor prefaces with. “He is in the battlefield with you. He doesn’t stay on the horse and yell the orders. I think when your leader is in the battlefield with you, it makes you want to go harder to make them proud.”
One Battle After Another hits theaters on September 26, 2025.