One Battle After Another

After his freewheeling, shaggy dog adaptation of Inherent Vice (2014), Paul Thomas Anderson, one of contemporary American cinema’s leading directors (Boogie Nights (1997); The Master (2012); There Will Be Blood (2007) and Phantom Thread (2017), both starring Daniel Day-Lewis) once again finds inspiration in the work of author Thomas Pynchon, loosely updating the themes and characters of novel Vineland (1990) to a contemporary setting. Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and partner Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) are members of revolutionary group the French 75. Life is complicated by the arrival of daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti), and their constant pursuit by Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), Perfidia’s former partner. Lockjaw’s eventual, inevitable resurfacing forces Bob to contact members of the disbanded group to help protect his daughter. There are some surprising new additions to Anderson’s palette in his latest star-studded, action-packed, darkly comic epic.