Leonardo DiCaprio's Second Oscar? One Battle After Another

Leonardo DICaprio declines most roles. Despite being one of the most prolific and talented actors working today, he's only been in three movies in the 2020s - Don't Look Up, Killers of The Flower Moon, and now One Battle After Another. This being true, seeing him in a movie is something special. This is almost like telling the audience that we can trust that this is a movie worth our time and our money. One Battle After Another is no anomaly.

This being said, somehow a movie led by DiCaprio, he isn't the best part. That isn't to say he didn't do a good job, because he did, this movie is just so stacked with incredible performances that he doesn't seem to stand out. One person that does stand out, however, is Sean Penn. This is most likely due in part to his character being so complex and interesting. He isn't just a racist neo-nazi, he is so much more than racism. He represents an attempted complete ethnic cleansing, and yet he fetishes black women.

He 'loved' Perfidia because she represented the only good parts of himself. Her tenacity, her fury, her unwillingness to stand down in the face of adversity are all things she shares with Lockjaw, even being on completely opposite sides. Lockjaw is so self centred and narcissistic that the only way he can possibly see a black woman favourably is either a fetish or him seeing himself in them.

My favourite part of this movie is undeniably the relationship between Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Willa (Chase Infiniti). There is such an intriguing disconnect between them throughout the whole movie which manifests itself in many different ways. Bob is constantly paranoid and over prepared for this threat which is ever-present in his eyes while he attempts to shield Willa from the world. However, all she wants is to live a normal life and is accepting of the present and the world around her.

This disconnect is no better shown than in each of their relationships with Willa's mother. Bob knows exactly who she was, and how and why she died, which he has always tried to keep Willa in the dark to protect her. This ended up having an inverse effect, where Willa idolised who she thinks her mother was and slowly starts to show signs of becoming who she really was.

When Willa finds the truth about her mother, she begins to distrust the world and even her own father, in turn becoming him - a paranoid, selfish, terrified person. However, he is also the only one who can push through these newfound boundaries and by the end, they both develop some of each other's sensibilities. Willa is slightly more cautious of the world, while still letting people in and accepting the world around her, and Bob is still very protective over his daughter, however he's now able to accept the present and move on from the past, rather than being stuck there. This idea of facing the world and accepting the present is also represented with phones throughout.

While I do understand why people are calling for Leonardo DiCaprio to be awarded his second Oscar for this movie, I believe Sean Penn is much more deserving. If DiCaprio didn't get an Oscar for Django: Unchained, I can't see him getting one here. However, any flowers this movie does receive are greatly deserving, no matter what they're for.