One Battle After Another

What’s it about?

Sixteen years after abandoning his radical past and starting over, former political rebel Bob Ferguson finds his quiet life upended when his teenage daughter Willa disappears. To save her, Bob is drawn back into a dangerous world of betrayals and old comrades, where he must confront his long-time nemesis and the violent forces of white supremacy that still linger in the shadows.

The facts 

• Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic), Sean Penn (Milk), Benicio del Toro (The French Dispatch), Regina Hall (Ally McBeal), Teyana Taylor (All’s Fair), and Chase Infiniti.
• English language
• Runtime: 161.28 minutes
• Inspired by the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

Why did it get this rating? 

This film was classified by Te Mana Whakaatu, Classification Office. You can find out more about classification process and ratings here.

Violence and cruelty

The film has a strong threat of cruel violence, but the violence itself is not shown in much detail. The main characters are rebels who commit acts of terrorism in the name of justice. The strongest scenes include:

• People are shown falling to the ground after a gunshot sound, or the camera stays focused on shooters while the results are implied. 
• Dead or injured people are shown but usually out of focus or from a distance. 
• Hand-to-hand combat between a man and a young woman where he pushes her around and grabs her by the back of the neck while she is handcuffed. 
• After being shot, a man has a severely bloodied face. This is shown from a distance and his injuries are not clearly visible. He is later seen with a scarred and disfigured face.
• A man kidnaps a teenage girl he suspects of being his daughter, forcibly subjects her to a paternity test and attempts to pay someone to kill her.

Sexual violence

A man is asked if he raped a woman. He later claims he was ‘raped in reverse’, that the woman drugged him and took advantage of him. It is not true. He refers to a ‘residue of interaction’ while someone else says ‘semen demon’. The relationship and sexual interaction referred to was consensual.

Offensive and discriminatory language

Offensive and coarse language is used frequently by most characters. It is used in a range of context from casual conversation to aggression and insults. Examples include ‘motherf*cker’, ‘f*ck’, ‘p*ssy’, ‘bullsh*t’, ‘sh*t’ and ‘prick’. Racial and discriminatory slurs are used by the villains in the film to drive the plot, but the film does not promote or trivialise discrimination.

The film is largely about discrimination, including the struggles of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants and the persecution they face. A lot of the language and actions of characters is about the racial

Sexual material 

While the sexual content is not shown in graphic or explicit detail, it links sex with violence, with some characters becoming aroused by violent and criminal acts. There is also a consensual relationship that intertwines sex and violence. The strongest scenes include: 

• One character initiates sex after committing acts of terrorism and suggests she and her partner ‘f*ck’.
• A woman holds a man by gunpoint and demands he gets an erection. He appears to enjoy this.
• The man appears to become aroused by watching the woman involved in a scuffle. The camera focusses on her clothed buttocks. 
• The woman is aroused by being caught and threatened with violence.
• The woman holds a gun to the man’s head before a sexual act happens out of frame with focus on the man’s reaction.

Drug use

A character is shown smoking marijuana and drinking heavily. This has clearly had a negative impact on his life, and he describes his substance abuse as having fried his brain.

When content stays with you: 

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information 

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?