Best Films of 2025 in the UK: No. 1 – One Battle After Another

2025 has been a remarkable year for cinema in the UK, with filmmakers pushing the boundaries of storytelling, style, and audience expectation. At the top of the year’s list is Paul Thomas Anderson’s countercultural epic One Battle After Another, a daring, provocative, and visually arresting film that has captured the imagination of critics and cinephiles alike.

A Countercultural Masterpiece

Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, One Battle After Another defies easy categorization. Part drama, part thriller, the film is a formal enigma, combining intricate plotting, rich visual storytelling, and a sense of controlled chaos. Its narrative centers on Leonardo DiCaprio as a former revolutionary navigating a disorienting, post-counterculture America in search of his daughter. Sean Penn co-stars as a morally ambiguous figure whose actions are as unpredictable as they are consequential.

What makes the film gripping is its refusal to elicit easy empathy for its central characters. DiCaprio and Penn’s roles are deliberately unlovely, their flaws and vulnerabilities laid bare with unflinching honesty. This lack of sentimental attachment creates a palpable tension throughout the story, giving the film a sense of impending disaster that fuels its entropic energy.

Filmmaking at the Highest Level

Critics have praised Anderson’s technical mastery and audacious vision. The cinematography, editing, and production design reflect a late-Kubrickian precision, where every frame is meticulously composed and every sequence charged with stylistic bravado. The narrative’s theatricality and the film’s self-awareness create moments that are both exhilarating and eerily strange, ensuring audiences are never fully comfortable—an intentional effect that heightens the film’s impact.

Paul Schrader, a rare dissenting voice, commented online: “Film-making at level A+, but try as I might I couldn’t muster up an ounce of empathy for Leo DiCaprio or Sean Penn. I kept waiting for them to die.” Yet, it is precisely this absence of empathy that defines the film’s audacity. Anderson challenges viewers to engage with complex characters without the comfort of emotional shortcuts, rewarding patience with a cinematic experience that lingers long after the credits roll.

Visual Style and Auditory Brilliance

One Battle After Another is also notable for its sensory richness. The cinematography captures both sweeping landscapes and intimate moments with equal finesse, while the sound design and score punctuate the film’s tension and rhythm with precision. This interplay between sight and sound enhances the film’s immersive quality, drawing audiences deep into its strange, entropic world.

Cultural Resonance

Beyond its technical and artistic achievements, the film resonates with contemporary audiences for its exploration of countercultural ideals, generational conflict, and the search for meaning in a fractured society. Its themes of rebellion, consequence, and moral ambiguity reflect broader questions about identity, loyalty, and the legacy of radical action in modern life.

One Battle After Another is more than just a movie, it is a cinematic statement, a work that challenges conventions and rewards attentive, thoughtful viewing. In a year packed with remarkable films, it stands out not only for its artistry but also for the conversations it provokes, securing its place as the UK’s top film of 2025.