My Rating is a 95 (A)
I spent a quiet December Saturday settling in for one of the year’s most talked-about films, One Thing After Another. I’d avoided trailers and think pieces, so all I had to go on was some sparse, slightly cryptic marketing that made me expect a dusty Western revenge flick. That expectation lasted about 90 seconds and I realized it was more of a modern action crime thriller.
The movie was a jolt of modern-day anarchist chaos—raw, immediate, and completely gripping. The opening scenes throw you straight into the action, introducing a roster of bold, sharply defined characters with almost reckless confidence. There’s no slow burn here; the film grabs you early, yanks you into its world, and never loosens its grip.
One of the most impressive feats of the movie is how it refuses to offer the comfort of “good guys.” Every major player walks the line between compelling and deeply flawed, and yet the film makes you care intensely about who comes out on top. Some characters are magnetic enough that you root for them despite their jagged edges; others you find yourself eagerly waiting to see undone. That moral ambiguity gives the whole story a gritty realism—these people feel like they could walk out of the theater with you. I think there are some people of certain political persuasions that will dislike the main characters even more and find the antagonist (played by Sean Penn) to be phony and unrealistic, as can be seen in a lot of the audience reviews who consider this “glorifying terrorism” which isn’t really how I see it. But it actually doesn’t seem that far-fetched considering what we’ve seen going on in recent years. I digress.
The performances are pretty outstanding. Every actor—whether they’re leading a high-speed pursuit, negotiating an uneasy truce, or spiraling into their own personal meltdown—throws themselves into the role with total conviction. The cast chemistry is electric, often carrying the emotional weight of scenes where very few words are spoken.
Cinematography, though, is where the movie borders on astonishing. Sweeping drone shots of desolate backroads collide with tight, claustrophobic close-ups that capture the tension simmering just beneath the surface. The visual style is both beautiful and nerve-wracking, mirroring the characters’ constant dance on razor-thin ice. You truly feel the danger they’re in—not in a Hollywood gloss sort of way but in a visceral, almost tactile sense.
By the time the credits rolled, I felt like I’d been on a two-hour chase through moral gray zones, messy loyalties, and relentless pressure. One Thing After Another isn’t just a clever title—it’s the entire experience. The film hurls crisis after crisis at its characters, forcing them to navigate a world where every decision might be the wrong one.
It’s a top 50 movie all time for me as you can see on my movie ratings list, so far the best I’ve seen in 2025, but I’m doing some catching up on movies before year’s end.
