10 Revolutionary Movies You Should Watch After ‘One Battle After Another’

A carnival thrill-ride that manages to evoke America’s radical revolutionary history while referencing and responding to decades of cinematic rebellion, One Movie After Another is one of writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s richest films, and somehow maybe even his most fun. Its 13 Oscar nominations put it in line with the most-honored movies ever, alongside the likes of From Here to Eternity, Mary Poppins, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Fellowship of the Ring. Of course, One Battle has the slight misfortune to be running against Sinners, with its all-time high of 16 nominations. Still: not bad.

With a variety of tones and styles, these 10 other movies approach radical activism and the aftermath thereof from multiple perspectives. Some of them even directly inspired Anderson in the making of One Battle.

Running on Empty (1988)

I’m letting Paul Thomas Anderson himself do some of the work here, as he’s already suggested this one is a good match while serving as a guest programmer on TCM. No surprise, really, as this 1988 film also follows one-time members of a radical anti-war guerrilla group (played by Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) who’ve been on the run since the 1970s, sure that the past isn’t done with them. Having relocated to yet another new town and with new identities, their teenage son Danny (River Phoenix) is hoping to make a life for himself, particularly when he’s recognized for his musical talent by a teacher who wants to know more about him and his family. Though there’s none of the action and little of the satire of One Battle, the themes are definitely similar. Rent Running on Empty from Prime Video.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022)

Turning a non-fiction work into an action-thriller, How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows eight individuals committed to bombing an oil pipeline in two separate locations. The movie, like the book it is based on, makes the case that property damage isn’t the worst thing in the face of environmental catastrophe; still, the level of commitment required to carry out such an act takes a deeply personal toll. Stream How to Blow Up a Pipeline on Hulu.

BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017)

Set amidst the AIDS crisis in the early 1990s, BPM focuses, to some extent, on HIV-positive ACT UP activist Sean (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) and his developing relationship with newcomer Nathan (Arnaud Valois), though the film is very much an ensemble piece in the aggregate, a fact that ties into its meaning and messaging. It explores the evolving nature of ACT UP’s activism and its messy internal battles over strategy, and the how-far-is-too-far considerations that are part and parcel of every movement. Writer-director Robin Campillo and co-writer Philippe Mangeot brought their own ACT UP experiences to the film, offering up a bit of verisimilitude to the more fictional activism of One Battle. Rent BPM from Prime Video.

Up Tight (1968)

Stars Ruby Dee and Julian Mayfield co-wrote and starred in this film from blacklisted director Jules Dassin, adapting a 1925 novel about an informer in the wake of the Irish Civil War. The setting is Cleveland in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The narrative revolves around Tank (Mayfield), representing the complexities of Black political struggle in an era in which the non-violent Civil Rights Movement had both succeeded and failed spectacularly. Tank supported King’s movement but lost his job and went to prison for defending his Black co-workers. Now released, jobless, and rootless, he sees his friends questioning his commitment to the cause—in spite of his sacrifices, a more radical, revolutionary movement is in the offing. The distrust of Tank becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in this appropriately angry thriller. Rent Up Tight from Prime Video.

V for Vendetta (2005)

Though its politics are more muddled than those in the Alan Moore/David Lloyd graphic novel it’s based on, V for Vendetta works as a superhero film with more going on under the hood than most (not for nothing that it popularized the Guy Fawkes mask as a kind of all-purpose anti-establishment symbol). Hugo Weaving gives a fine lead performance, despite mostly working from behind that iconic mask, as the terrorist and/or freedom fighter working against a fascist, totalitarian regime. As much as the British original was heavily influenced by Margaret Thatcher, this 2005 film speaks to the George W. Bush era, which we currently seem to be reliving. (Fun!) Natalie Portman co-stars as Evey Hammond, an ordinary citizen radicalized by an attempted sexual assault by the police. Stream V for Vendetta on HBO Max.

The Company You Keep (2012)

Late national treasure Robert Redford directs and stars (alongside the somewhat less-beloved Shia Shia LaBeouf) as a defense attorney with a past: for decades, “Jim Grant” has evaded the FBI for a bank robbery and murder that occurred while he was a Weather Underground militant. LaBeouf is Ben Shepard, a reporter anxious for a big story who’s very willing to blow up Jim’s life, but things get more complicated when he tracks down the original arresting officer (Brendan Gleeson), as well as another former Underground member (Julie Christie) who might be able to clear Jim’s name. This one’s about the persistence of our past choices, much like One Battle, but it also deals with the activism of the Vietnam generation, interrogating the extent to which that idealism has served any purpose. Rent The Company You Keep from Prime Video.

The Battle of Algiers (1966)

A shockingly relevant film about the tensions between Algerian nationalists and French forces in North Africa, a conflict that erupted into a three-year war, director Gillo Pontecorvo’s hyper-realistic film is thrilling on one level, but also deeply challenging. While the its morality leans slightly toward the Algerians trying to reclaim their home from the French, it’s also clear that the shocking acts of violence perpetrated by the guerrilla fighters render any discussion of heroes or villains ridiculous. (Bob is seen watching Battle of Algiers at one point during One Battle, so it works on a meta level, as well.) Stream The Battle of Algiers on HBO Max or rent it from Prime Video.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino and the late, great John Cazale (who was never in a bad movie) play Sonny and Sal, first-time bank robbers is this crime thriller based on a true story. Sonny is desperate for money to pay for his trans partner’s gender-reassignment surgery, so he plans the heist with friend Sal. The result is a violent debacle that leads to a standoff with police. With an eye on queer liberation, the movie tackles the failures of the counterculture while gleefully thumbing its nose at the cops. It’s a fabulous heist movie, and one of the best movies of its era, period,. Notably, it doesn’t look down on its lead character’s bisexuality, nor his marriage to a trans woman—Sonny might not be a genius, but he’s a good guy. Stream Dog Day Afternoon on Tubi or rent it from Prime Video.

Born in Flames (1983)

I’m going furthest afield suggesting this no-budget, radical feminist faux-documentary, but it works as a bit of counter-programming. One Battle finds Bob adrift in the wake of his period of radical activism, while Born in Flames imagines that socialist idealism of previous decades bore fruit—but that there are still plenty of battles to be fought. Adele Bertei plays Isabel, who runs the pirate radio collective Radio Ragazza in an alternate, socialist United States, while Honey (just “Honey”) plays Honey, the voice of the competing Phoenix Radio. In the face of increasing government oppression, the two women and the factions they represent come to see that liberation, ultimately, requires more than just talk. Stream Born in Flames on the Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.

Repo Man (1984)

A Paul Thomas Anderson favorite, Repo Man matches One Battle a bit less in story terms than many of these others, but it might be the best match in terms of anarchic tone. A pitch-perfect Regan-era satire (timely, given that I’m not sure we’ve ever really left the Reagan era), Alex Cox’s film finds the great Harry Dean Stanton recruiting Emilio Estevez’s Otto Maddox into the unexpectedly wild world of automobile repossession in 1980s LA. Otto’s absconding with an unusual 1964 Chevrolet Malibu puts him on the run from pretty much everyone: the government has placed a $10,000 bounty on the car, which sends every repossessor in the city after him (the Feds have a very particular reason for wanting it, and it has to do aliens—but not the usual immigrant kind). A cult essential. Rent Repo Man from Prime Video.