10 Movies Similar to 'One Battle After Another'

One Battle After Another is both surprisingly funny and incredibly violent at times, not to mention very chaotic. If it was that particular side of the PTA flick you enjoyed the most, then you’ll love Mathieu Kassovitz’s French thriller, La Haine. While the action in One Battle simmers over the course of many years, a similar level of tension is packed into a brutal 24-hour period in this 1995 cult hit.

There’s also a similar theme of questionable law enforcement and societal rebels in La Haine, as three young men contend with the volatile post-riot streets of Paris. It’s explosive, gripping, and a truly thought-provoking dissection of the wildness of youth. Don’t worry about the subtitles; this is a very visual story, and you can catch it on BFI Player.

If you want to lean more into the political themes at play in One Battle After Another, you could take it to the extreme with Ari Aster’s genre-mashing Eddington. While Paul Thomas Anderson was more concerned with the wider ideological battle between the far right and liberal left, Aster really hones how that clash affects communities on a smaller scale.

Eddington has the star power of Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and a fascinating supporting role for Emma Stone, as a race to become mayor turns nasty. The intense rivalry between Sheriff Joe Cross and his counterpart, Ted Garcia, may be more of a war of words than the very visceral conflict between Bob Ferguson and Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle, but it leads to an equally savage conclusion. You’ll have to pay to watch Eddington at the moment, with a £4.99 rental fee on Apple TV, and while I would say this is a very divisive film, it’s well worth a try.

Narratively speaking, there is no film on this list more closely related to One Battle After Another than The Order. In this cat-and-mouse thriller, a law enforcement officer (played by Jude Law) is hunting down domestic terrorist Robert Jay Mathews (Nicholas Hoult), which would be identical to Thomas Anderson’s epic story, were it not for the fact that, in The Order, the man in the uniform is actually a good guy.

I watched this film when it first dropped on Prime Video, and it seriously struck a chord with me. With a captivating story, big action set-pieces, and a rural American setting, it’s got all the ingredients of a hit. It’s a lot like Hell or High Water, in tone and style, which is always a good ballpark to be in, IMO.

Let’s be honest, a lot of people will have rushed out to see One Battle After Another purely because of Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s certainly one of the few true movie stars out there, and someone who I will always make the effort to see on the big screen whenever possible. If you too can’t get enough of DiCaprio, dipping into his back catalogue is never a bad idea, and Catch Me If You Can fits the bill here.

This somewhat underrated Steven Spielberg effort is the ultimate cat-and-mouse story, based on the (allegedly) true exploits of Frank Abagnale – a man who was so good at being a fraud that even the FBI struggled to put a stop to his antics. Seeing Hollywood heavyweights DiCaprio and Tom Hanks go head-to-head here is so much fun. Watch it all unfold on Netflix now.

After Hours has that same frantic energy that is bubbling at the heart of One Battle After Another, and in many ways, Paul Hackett’s ordeal is just as turbulent as Bob’s attempts to rescue his daughter. Everything quite literally goes against Paul as he tries to escape his mundane existence through a madcap night of sexual misadventure – it’s a bit like Uncut Gems on acid.

This taut, tense Martin Scorsese film goes under the radar due to his incredible prolificacy when it comes to mobster movies. At just 97 minutes long and with a raw, surrealist vibe, After Hours is well worth checking out if you want to see another side to Scorsese’s work. It’ll cost you £3.49 to rent from the Sky Store, but that’s definitely money well spent.

There are a few factors that drive an intriguing narrative as well as revenge. That’s very much a part of One Battle After Another, but it’s absolutely crucial to the Korean cinema classic, Oldboy. This is what most consider to be the best Park Chan-wook movie, which is quite the feat given his filmography includes the likes of The Handmaiden, Decision to Leave, and the brilliant new release, No Other Choice. 

I would genuinely go as far as to say this is the best foreign language film ever made; it’s the kind of film that everyone has to watch once in their lifetime, even if they don’t usually give subtitles the time of day.

To say too much about Oldboy would spoil what’s to come, but just know it features an astounding plot twist, some phenomenal fight sequences, and is not afraid to go to bold, disturbing places. 

If you didn’t look up who the director of One Battle After Another was, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a Quentin Tarantino movie. The way the story meanders between different characters and settings, the overt violence, and the slick camerawork are all trademarks of Tarantino’s work, and they give Thomas Anderson’s latest a real sense of urgency and energy that may be lacking in his other projects.

The final third, with the epic car chase sequence and the culmination of Bob’s mission, is particularly reminiscent of Kill Bill. And you get two recommendations for the price of one here, as you obviously need to see Kill Bill: Vol. 2 as well. This hyper-stylised two-parter takes massive inspiration from classic martial arts movies while also packing in typical Tarantino twists, outstanding fight choreography, and a host of gory, graphic deaths. You can watch it all, believe it or not, on Disney+.

I loved all the serious stuff in One Battle After Another, but I’d be lying if I said the dynamic between Bob and Sensei Sergio wasn’t my favourite element of the film. Bob’s frenzied energy, combined with Sensei’s super chill, pragmatic aura, delivers comedic moments of an almost slapstick variety, which you’ll find plenty of in The Nice Guys.

To be honest, I think The Nice Guys is the funniest movie of the past decade, and it’s not even close. Ryan Gosling is operating on a different plane in this 1970s-inspired detective comedy from Shane Black, while Russell Crowe supports him with a more gruff, subtle approach to the humour. There are one-liners, physical gags, references and call-backs; it’s got everything! You can find this laugh-a-minute hit on the MGM+ Channel.

While One Battle After Another takes us all across America, Sidney Lumet’s crime drama Dog Day Afternoon is a riveting single-location piece, but it’s every ounce as tense. Based on a true story, this Oscar-winning flick sees Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) hold up a bank, but things don’t go to plan, and they end up with a hostage situation, plenty of police attention, and a media circus watching their every move.

Much like One Battle After Another, this is another tale of how powerful law enforcement agencies deal with rebellious rogues, and it throws up just as many moral dilemmas as the Paul Thomas Anderson movie. The direction from Lumet is superb, as always, but it’s the performance of Pacino in the lead role that really elevates this to the status of being one of the finest pictures of the ‘70s. Find it on Now TV Cinema if you’re keen. 

1975 was a pretty great year for film – so much so that Three Days of the Condor manages to fly under the radar a bit. If you want to see a young Robert Redford trying to figure out why a group of mercenaries want him dead – all while wearing the coolest coats and sunglasses known to man – then you’re in for a treat.

There are strong political themes that’ll resonate with anyone who appreciated that element of One Battle After Another, while all the clandestine meetings and talk of conspiracy align perfectly with the world Thomas Anderson built in his story. Be warned: there is a fairly iffy romantic sub-plot, but putting that aside, Three Days of the Condor is an engrossing high-stakes thriller that really should be on your hitlist.