Warning: Major spoilers for One Battle After Another aheadPaul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is driven by memorable characters based on outstanding performances from the entire cast, but Sean Penn’s odious military officer stands above the rest. While One Battle After Another got off to a rocky start at the box office, the conversation online has been near-universal in recognizing it as one of the best movies of the year.

Dripping with intelligent, timely satire and propelled by multiple Oscar-worthy performances, One Battle After Another will be a fixture on most end-of-year movie lists. From newcomer Chase Infiniti going punch-for-punch on-screen with the legendary Leonardo DiCaprio at the absolute peak of his powers, to Regina Hall, Benicio del Toro, and Teyana Taylor providing three different perspectives on the same revolutionary cause, One Battle After Another is a masterclass in the art of acting.

However incredible the rest of the cast is, Oscar-winner Sean Penn manages to make the most lasting impact. As the primary antagonist in the proceedings, Penn manages to dominate the screen with a complex, layered performance that is equal parts menace and pitiful. The end result is a villain that sticks with you long after you leave the theater, especially given his relevancy to America in its current state.

Sean Penn’s Col. Steven J. Lockjaw Is One Of The Most Despicable Villains In Years

Sean Penn portrays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, a seasoned military officer in charge of enforcing strict immigration policies for the United States government. He first comes into conflict with the French 75 when they liberate a detention facility under his supervision, and he is marched out of his barracks and humiliated by Perfidia Beverly Hills (Taylor).

He develops an obsession with Perfidia, which leads him to force her into a Sєxual encounter in exchange for her freedom when he catches her. As if that wasn’t contemptible enough, he coerces her into betraying her comrades on top of it, for which he is rewarded with accolades and an advanced position.

Penn ensures that we see Lockjaw as almost sub-human, not just in his action but in his physical presence. He walks so rigidly that his military march almost seems like it’s leaked into his normal gait, making him move with a sort of stilted, robotic motion. It’s completely ludicrous, which is of course the point: Penn wants us to know that Lockjaw is a big joke to those around him.

That notion is magnified when he is around his superiors, the secret society of white supremacists known as the Christmas Adventurers Club. Lockjaw’s end goal is to find himself in the ranks of those secret movers and shakers, and it’s a driving factor behind his pursuit of the French 75 (a noticeably diverse group of revolutionaries) and his career as an immigration enforcer.

That makes his hypocrisy with Perfidia even more difficult to stomach. Not only is he an unrepentant racist, but he’s not even a particularly principled one. He is willing to satisfy his own urges with Perfidia, but will giddily mow down her comrades when being a white supremacist suits his ambition. It makes him particularly pathetic, and reinforces that he isn’t even really a serious authority figure.

Pathetic though he may be, that doesn’t prevent him from being diabolically evil if it’s in his best interest. He is perfectly happy to murder the child he unknowingly conceived with Perfidia once he realizes she is living proof of his interracial tryst, which would immediately disqualify him from the Christmas Adventurers Club.

Penn Makes Lockjaw A Comedic Character, Which Is Brilliant

Lockjaw is easy enough to hate for being evil, indecisively racist, and manipulative. However, it’s the fact that Penn takes those traits and layers in a cartoonishly silly, boot-licking sycophant on top that makes his character so hateable. He walks like he literally has a stick up his rear end, and sports a ridiculous hair cut that he styles using his own saliva on a plastic comb.

It’s even somewhat funny that he envisions himself as a sort of robotic modern-day Terminator, and he manages to survive a sH๏τgun blast to the head and a high-speed car crash, walking away as if he actually is the Terminator. He isn’t a real person, he’s a caricature of a person. However, when that level of silliness is combined with hatred and not a small amount of fear, you get something more heinous.

Lockjaw’s giddy excitement when he finally gets an invite to the Christmas Adventurers Club, along with the incessant smiling through his horrific scars, almost make you feel sorry for him, because by that point you understand that he’s already ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. I said almost, because that fleeting bit of pity disappears once the poison gas starts to fill the room.

Sean Penn’s Col. Lockjaw is a sniveling hypocrite who also has the sociopathic qualities to be a killer and a manipulator. The villain is both absurd and abhorrent at all times, making him incredibly memorable. His actions over the course of One Battle After Another, along with Sean Penn’s inspired character work, ensure that you walk out of the theater hating Lockjaw, happy that he met his end.