By Ryver Marbach, Opinion Editor
On Sept. 26, Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another,’ which was filmed partly in Sacramento, released in theaters across the country.
The movie stars Academy Award Winner Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Pat “Ghetto” Calhoun, and Teyana Taylor, who plays Pat’s wife, Perfidia Beverly Hills. The film follows the couple and their daughter, Charlene, throughout their lives in a rebellious group called the French 75. The French 75 are a group of political activists and rebels that launch attacks against military leaders and politicians, including Military Officer Steven J. Lockjaw, who is played by Sean Penn. During one of these attacks, Lockjaw holds Beverly Hills captive in his office, near the Mexico-United States border. Beverly Hills is promised freedom if she submits to rape from Lockjaw. Due to this sexual assault, Perfidia becomes pregnant and gives birth to her daughter, Charlene. Pat attempts to get Perfidia to settle down as a family, meaning they would leave the French 75, but Perfidia refuses and abandons Pat with Charlene. Now living under the fake names Bob and Willa Ferguson, the two settle down in the quiet town of Baktan Cross, California. But when Lockjaw comes searching for Willa/Charlene 16 years later, Bob refuses to let Lockjaw take Willa and the two must evade the officer and his white supremacist club, the Christmas Adventurers.
Filmed all over the state, but partially in Sacramento, one can see notable locations in the city in the film, including the Tower Bridge, the Sacramento County Courthouse, and the County Administration Building, all located downtown. Other filming locations in the Sacramento area include an empty department store, located next to Country Club Theaters on El Camino Ave. and Watt Ave., and some suburban housing districts in the Folsom hills. Filming for the movie began in Eureka in Jan. of 2024, but quickly moved south to Sacramento in Feb. Other filming locations include El Paso, Texas, and the desert near the United States-Mexico border in Southern California.
EC student Bella Machado (‘26) viewed One Battle After Another at the drive-in movie theater. Machado enjoyed the movie and was excited to see her hometown in a feature film.
“It was overall a really good movie. The plot was very captivating, and it kept me entertained the whole time. And I thought the acting was very good too,” said Machado.
The film can be watched in various theaters around Sacramento, and is expected to be put on streaming services around mid-December.
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