Martin Scorsese praises his frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movie, One Battle After Another. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, the new film follows DiCaprio as a former revolutionary who, after their enemy returns after 16 years, must reunite with his fellow former revolutionaries to rescue his daughter.

With Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role, the cast also includes two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn (Mystic River, Milk), Oscar winner Benicio del Toro (Traffic), Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti in her film debut, Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), The Wire‘s Wood Harris, Tony Goldwyn, Shayna McHayle, Starletta DuPois, D.W. Moffett, Paul Grimstad, Kevin Tighe, Jim Downey, and John Hoogenakker.

After a screening of One Battle After Another at the Directors Guild of America, Martin Scorsese moderated a Q&A with Paul Thomas Anderson, during which he shared some high praise for his new movie (via World of Reel). Scorsese called One Battle After Another “a fascinating and extraordinarily made film“ that features “extraordinary performances everywhere.”

Scorsese also spoke about the movie’s “thematic points,” describing them as “on spot right now,” and emphasized the film’s urgent focus on political and ideological polarization.

What Martin Scorsese’s Praise Means For One Battle After Another

Martin Scorsese is actually the second legendary director to praise Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie. Earlier this month, Steven Spielberg shared a glowing review for One Battle After Another, praising its relentless action, timely themes, and absurdist comedy. Read his full review below:

What an insane movie, oh my God. There is more action in the first hour of this than every other film you’ve ever directed put together. Everything, it is really incredible. This is such a concoction of things that are so bizarre and at the same time so relevant, that I think have become increasingly more relevant than perhaps even when you finished the screenplay and ᴀssembled your cast and crew and began production.

I have not seen a movie that is so tonally a relative to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. This brings a kind of absurdist comedy, taken very seriously, because it’s so much a reflection of what’s happening today, every day, throughout this country. But it takes it to a point where you want to laugh, because if you don’t laugh, you’re going to start screaming, “This is too real.” And so you got that outlet. So Kubrick used armageddon as a way to tell his story, to make his statement. And there’s something that gets us on the same edge of that kind of absurdist feeling, a tone, that you take it both very seriously, but you’re praying for some kind of relief, some kind of a trigger to laugh. I nervously laugh all the way through Dr. Strangelove, and, more than nervously, I had a great time laughing all the way through this. But it’s interesting where you laugh here, where you allow us to laugh, and then when you shut it down.

Of course, Scorsese and Spielberg aren’t the only ones praising One Battle After Another. The movie boasts a near-perfect 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, representing the highest-rated movie this year, by a considerable margin. In ScreenRant‘s review of One Battle After Another, Gregory Nussen writes:

Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Thomas Anderson unite for a virtuosic, prescient triumph… A battle cry of uncompromising political ideals, One Battle After Another is amongst Paul Thomas Anderson’s most forceful work.

Our Take On Martin Scorsese’s Praise For One Battle After Another

With Martin Scorsese weighing in, the chorus of acclaim around One Battle After Another has reached a deafening pitch. His comments add the authority of a modern master to a movie already riding an unprecedented wave of praise. Combined with a glowing endorsement from Spielberg, Anderson’s latest film has become a critical darling that is also commanding respect across the industry.

With Oscar season looming, One Battle After Another has already cemented itself as the frontrunner, not only for Best Picture but, perhaps most crucially, for Anderson’s long-overdue Best Director win. If Scorsese’s voice of approval underscores anything, it’s that One Battle After Another is more than a great movie, but a landmark moment in modern American cinema.