Paul Thomas Anderson has always loved taking us back in time. He’s shown us oil barons at the turn of the century (There Will Be Blood), fashion houses in post-war London (Phantom Thread), and the shaggy spirit of California in the ’70s (Licorice Pizza). But his new film, One Battle After Another, is set in the present and Anderson leaves no stone unturned to make it feel like one of the boldest and most urgent films of his career.

Anderson drives straight into the plot at the word go. A revolutionary group called the French 75 storms a detention centre near the US-Mexico border to rescue immigrants. Among them is Pat (Leonardo DiCaprio), an explosives expert, and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), his lover. Their opponent is Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), an army officer who will stop at nothing to crush them.

Although the French 75 initially carry out attacks against the US government successfully, things soon fall apart. Perfidia is captured and Pat goes on the run with their baby daughter, and many of their comrades are killed or captured. Sixteen years later, Pat has reinvented himself as Bob Ferguson, a washed-up man living in a dusty border town with his now-teenage daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). Just when he thinks he’s left his old life behind, Lockjaw resurfaces. Soldiers storm the town, Bob and Willa are separated, and the story becomes a relentless chase.

Anderson loosely adapts Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland. One moment the narrative plays like a wild action movie, with desert car chases and rooftop escapes, the next, it feels like a street protest documentary.

At the heart of it all is DiCaprio. We’ve seen him play intense characters before, but here he’s funny, messy, and vulnerable. He stumbles, fights, and jokes his way through chaos.

Chase Infiniti, as Willa, is a revelation. She plays the teenager with grit and intelligence, making her relationship with DiCaprio’s character the film’s emotional anchor.

The supporting cast is equally strong. Regina Hall shines as an old ally who helps Willa, while Benicio del Toro steals scenes as Willa’s martial-arts teacher running a secret escape route for migrants. And then there’s Sean Penn, who channelises the menace of Colonel Lockjaw with steely stares.

Visually too, the film is a treat. Anderson stages action on a grand scale — gunfights that shake you, car chases that make you breathless. But he also knows when to slow down. The camera lingers on small, intimate moments between father and daughter, reminding us that the film isn’t only about revolution but also about family.

Politically, One Battle After Another doesn’t why away from the domestic realities of America. The French 75 may be fictional, but their anger at injustice feels straight out of today’s headlines. The underground group of White nationalists backing Lockjaw feels uncomfortably real. Anderson’s message is clear: America is in crisis, and art can’t afford to look away.

Yet, Anderson suggests that even in a broken country, love and loyalty still matter.