The following contains spoilers for One Battle After AnotherOne Battle After Another‘s themes all come to a head in the film’s ending, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic delving into more than just the conflict between Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob and Sean Penn’s Lockjaw. A sprawling story focused largely on Bob and his daughter Willa’s attempts to escape Lockjaw, PTA’s latest is also one of his most powerful.

Despite not calling out any specific person, the focus on Lockjaw paints a damning picture of authoritarianism and white nationalism in America. While the freedom fighters aren’t perfect, they’re also depicted as heroic figures in a battle that may never end. That’s why the film ends as it does, turning that sentiment into an enduring and hopeful message.

Lockjaw, Beverly, Bob, And Willa: Why One Battle After Another Is About Family & Systems

One Battle After Another is an emotional epic for Bob and Willa that never loses sight of the importance of love and community amid the chaos caused by governmental oppression, revolutionary action, and secret conspiracies. What keeps the political story threads and characters of One Battle After Another going is the focus on Willa and her family.

Initially presented as the daughter of “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun and Perfidia Beverly Hills, Willa is forced to go into hiding alongside Pat after Perfidia gives up the French 75 to avoid prison. Raised as Willa by Pat (going by Bob), the girl grows up to have the fierceness of her mother and the resolve she lost as a freedom fighter.

However, she also turns out not to be Bob’s biological daughter. Instead, Willa is the result of an affair between Beverly and Lockjaw, one instigated by the latter in exchange for allowing Beverly to escape potential arrest. This sets up the eventual plot of One Battle After Another, as Lockjaw attempts to hunt down Willa to confirm her parentage.

Willa is frustrated by the older generation. She’s exhausted by her burnout father but still loves Bob. She’s left shaken by the discovery that Bob lied about Beverly’s supposedly noble death to become a “rat.” She’s also unimpressed with Lockjaw, quickly deconstructing his presentation as a strong man by pointing out his тιԍнт shirt and lifts in his shoes.

Willa is like any young person, left angry with the lies and hypocrisies of the older generation while trying to make her way in the world. She ultimately only survives because of the kindness of another minority character (the Native American bounty hunter Avanti) and her own agency in fighting back.

This makes her cries to Bob to identify himself when he arrives to save her more powerful. She’s just learned he was not only a resistance fighter but that he isn’t her biological father. This doesn’t stop him from lowering his weapons and embracing her. Bob remains Willa’s father, regardless of the chaos that has surrounded them.

One Battle After Another’s Revolution Will Not Be Televised

One Battle After Another is the rare political movie that doesn’t seem to be focused on any specific person or movement. Rather, the Paul Thomas Anderson film seems more focused on the abstract concept of government overreach and violence against the public, contrasted against the chaotic efforts of groups like the French 75.

In both cases, the actual act of organization leads to problematic bureaucracy, which complicates any efforts to actually change the world for the better. On the one hand, the French 75 are an effective underground movement, but Bob is frequently stalled by his inability to follow their exact code phrases and meticulous rules.

It’s an intriguing theme, especially as the underground network that remains of the French 75 is portrayed as heroes in the overall narrative. Their acts of domestic terrorism are shown to avoid casualties, with Beverly Hills killing a bank guard being treated as a turning point of no return for the resistance movement.

The network is ultimately a force for good, and its ability to work together on a large scale, but unseen by the authorities, saves Bob several times. However, it is still held back by the flaws of human interaction and error, which only complicates things for Bob as he tries to find Willa.

By contrast, the military apparatus and wealthy private sector controlling the Christmas Adventurers Club use the bureaucracy to their advantage, turning countless unnamed men and women in uniform into extensions of their racial profiling and aggressive policing. Bureaucracy is portrayed as an enemy of the people, whether it’s complicating resistance or emboldening bad actors.

As with much of the surrounding film’s themes about society, there’s a focus on the importance of humanity (or lack thereof) in the people running and resisting the government alike. It can be a tool and a weapon, but is ultimately driven by the same judgmental and occasionally dim people who exist in the real world.

Why The Christmas Adventurers Are The True Villains Of One Battle After Another

While Col. Lockjaw is the primary antagonist of One Battle After Another, the Christmas Adventurers Club is the overarching villain of the story as a whole. The secret organization is depicted as wealthy figures of influence in the private sector, with plenty of connections to law enforcement and military authority. They are also all portrayed as unapologetic racists.

Lockjaw may be the personal threat of the film, but his motivation in tracking down Willa stems from his desire to join the Club. He’s willing to cause untold death and destruction in an American city, all because he wants to make sure his potential biracial daughter doesn’t mess up his chances of joining a group of white nationalists.

The influence of the Christmas Adventurers Club can be seen in the military as a whole, with a casual acceptance of racial slurs used in military operations underscoring how prevalent that kind of hatred has become in this world. Ultimately, Lockjaw and immigration enforcement as a whole are just extensions of the Christmas Adventurers.

If One Battle After Another is focused on the micro conflict between Bob and Willa against Lockjaw, the overarching battle is forces like Carlos’ underground railroad and the remnants of the French 75 fighting against the control and influence of the Christmas Adventurers Club. It’s also endless, just one battle after another.

It’s telling that the Christmas Adventurers have the kind of power that Lockjaw desires, the same show of confidence and authority that attracted him to Perdia in the first place. However, the Christmas Adventurers see him just as a tool, explaining why they so casually kill him and dispose of his body after the events of the plot.

Ultimately, the Christmas Adventurers are the true villains of the film. They are symbolic of the power structure that people rebel against, untouched by the chaos and death of the film. Even their disappointment in Lockjaw highlights how they just want to maintain power for themselves and are unafraid to use true believers as weapons to achieve that.

One Battle After Another’s Lockjaw Story Is All About Power And Ego

Lockjaw is a fascinating villain in One Battle After Another, especially as his fragile ego becomes more apparent. Introduced as a military leader who is nevertheless humiliated and emasculated by Beverly, he’s willing to commit treason to be with her again and leaps at the opportunity to turn the tables and hold power over her.

Lockjaw’s obsession with the Christmas Adventurers stems from a similar motivation: a desire for power. Lockjaw portrays himself as a man in charge, who can work within the systems and take command of them. It’s this obsession with power that leads him to cross moral lines, ordering extrajudicial executions of the French 75 and leaving an entire city in chaos.

It’s all tied to Lockjaw’s ego. He becomes obsessed with Beverly because she humiliated him. Willa’s comments about his shirt and the lifts in his shoes send him into a fury.. Lockjaw wants the trappings and image of power, explaining why he becomes obsessed with controlling Beverly and joining the Christmas Adventurers.

Ultimately, this also leaves him open to being targeted by an organization that doesn’t want him. The Christmas Adventurers try to have him killed the second they discover the possible truth about him and Willa’s connection, and succeed the second time around. Lockjaw’s fate is the same as anyone the power structure has targeted, regardless of his authority or privilege.

Why One Battle After Another Ends With Plenty Of Fights Left To Be Fought

One Battle After Another ends on a relatively optimistic note, with Willa carrying on the work of the French 75 while her father remains home but supportive. This plays into one of the central themes of the film, which is the endless nature of resistance. In the film, several freedom fighters are arrested or sH๏τ, never to be seen again.

Yet, the fight continues. Carlos notes that his work as a South American “Harriet Tubman” comes with procedures and tactics, suggesting they’ve been at work for a while and can continue on without Carlos if he does end up arrested. Bob may be tired, his compatriots may be gone, and Beverly may be in hiding. And yet, the fight continues.

The fight continues as long as those in power continue to abuse it, which is proven in Lockjaw’s fate. The villain may be ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but the root cause of his malice and the army he utilized to carry it out remain. The Christmas Adventurers aren’t even discovered, let alone defeated. What makes the fight worth it is the people it protects and helps.

Beverly’s letter for Willa, read in the final moments of the film, reinforces Beverly’s regret over missing her daughter’s life and her belief that they’ll be reunited someday after the battles have been won. In many ways, One Battle After Another is a call to action against corrupt systems that target people at the behest of hateful elites.

However, it’s also a reminder that the fight will be long, arduous, and ultimately worth it. One Battle After Another has a lot to say about the world, but it all boils down to the importance of love and unity in the face of nationalism, hatred, tyranny, and abuse.