Dusting revolutionaries' retirement from the rebel heart, One Battle After Another captures that sense of uproar and contemplation. Sean Penn, who is inexorably attached to the implicit disputes of society and famed for his intense leading man roles, was somehow unmoored by Paul Thomas Anderson's brutally bold script. It is a movie about washed-up fighters returning to a battleground of ideology, comedy, and sheer vulnerability, and Penn's reaction to the script is symbolic of such unbridled storytelling.

Sean Penn's hilarious first impression of the movie is proof that it will actually leave viewers in splits.

Just stepped out of the shower, Sean Penn was so amazed he fell to the ground, naked and dripping wet, laughing uncontrollably. Even without reading the entire final screenplay, Sean Penn was struck by One Battle After Another at an early stage of production when discussing the film with the director, Paul Anderson. He confessed to the New York Times, "I read it blind—Paul hadn't told me anything about what it was about." And then, halfway through the script, audacity devoured sobriety. He said he had come out of a shower to read a couple of pages before getting dressed, but at the moment he "ended up slinking to the floor naked and dripping, laughing, because he went there." 

Penn's reaction revealed by The New York Times, is too descriptive to be dismissed, as it perfectly describes Anderson's unflinching artistic approach to a movie that asks its actors to incinerate all pretense, laying bare hilarity in its boldest form. Penn's response is not just an anecdote but evidence that this movie shatters expectations, that even its pages are explosive.

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Not only a political satire, Anderson's comedy adventure is also replete with intense thought-provoking moments.

Warner Bros. Pictures is set to unleash the comedy beast in theatres One Battle After Another on September 26, 2025. Helmed by BAFTA-winning filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti. The black comedy, political satire film is inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland and is replete with action, adventure, as well as touching father-daughter moments. 

Its plot revolves around Bob Ferguson, a washed-up former revolutionary played by DiCaprio, pursued over searing landscapes when his daughter is kidnapped, leading a group of revolutionaries to return to the field after 16 years. Meanwhile, Penn stars as a white nationalist leader, the sinister Col. Steven Lockjaw. With high-stakes action, cutting-edge political comedy in this volatile climate, a poetically charged pulsing score, and Penn's naked freakout on the floor is shorthand for One Battle After Another's bold heart, a reminder that the best revolutions start in the rawest moments.

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Are you excited for One Battle After Another after Sean Penn's hilarious reaction? Let us know in the comments below.