By skyforbes 
Explosive Action Meets Sharp Political Satire in PTS’s 2025 Thriller
Rating: ★★★★½
By: Alan K. Yarborough
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Author’s Note:
Extremism and systemic racism aren’t new American afflictions, they’re foundational features we’ve simply gotten better at documenting. What our ancestors could bury in unmarked graves, we now upload in 4K. One Battle After Another doesn’t flinch from this reality; it holds up a mirror that’s been gathering dust in our national attic for centuries.
Working within the federal apparatus, a baroque ecosystem of bureaucratic parasites, and walking the same streets that appear in this film, I can confirm: PTS isn’t being hyperbolic. If anything, they’re being generous. The rot is real, institutional, and exhaustingly persistent. This movie earns its unflinching gaze.
One Battle After Another doesn’t waste time asking for your attention. It demands it, then earns it, then leaves you wondering why more filmmakers aren’t swinging this hard. Paul Thomas Anderson has crafted something rare: a politically charged thriller that actually thrills, wrapped in VistaVision grandeur that makes every frame feel like a punch you’re willing to take again.
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