As someone who loves Paul Thomas Anderson (I saw There Will Be Blood at least five times in theaters), I have no excuse for waiting so long to finally watch One Battle After Another. The 2025 movie, which was a hit with critics despite being a box office “flop,” not only lived up to the hype but also exceeded my expectations. PTA’s new thriller is a fun-as-hell, goofy, and badass movie full of rich characters (even those less-than-savory folks) played by some of the best living actors.
While I’m glad that Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro are receiving heaps of praise and some Golden Globe nominations, there’s one performance that’s not getting enough love: Regina Hall’s Deandre, a French 75 revolutionary who is a force of calm throughout this nearly three-hour epic. Seriously, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this wonderfully understated performance.
Regina Hall’s Co-Stars Give Such Loud And Chaotic Performances, But Hers Is A Force Of Quiet Calm
There is something that should be said about the understated yet powerful performance from Regina Hall as Deandre, a.k.a. “Lady Champagne,” throughout One Battle After Another. In a movie that is full of such intense, colorful, and bold characters like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Dude-like character, Pat Calhoun/Bob Ferguson, or Sean Penn’s Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (now that’s a fucking name), it was refreshing to have someone who was just as powerful but without all the explosions, cursing, racial slurs, or foggy memory.
There was something so calming, reassuring, and magnetic about Deandre whenever she was on screen, and I was mesmerized by it all the way. As someone who wasn’t too familiar with Hall’s dramatic work before pressing play, I was legitimately caught off guard by her on-screen prowess.
Regina Hall Is At The Core Of Two Of My Favorite Scenes
Spoiler Warning: Major spoilers for two major scenes in One Battle After Another are below. If you haven’t watched yet and have made it this far, please exercise caution.
Though her character isn’t involved in that awesome and inventive car chase during the film’s climax, and her fate was left up in the air in the One Battle After Another ending, Hall was a major part in two of my favorite scenes from the movie.
First, there’s the restroom scene during the school dance where Deandre shows up out of nowhere and pretty much gives Chase Infiniti’s Willa Ferguson/Charlene Calhoun the “Come with me if you want to live” speech from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. However, instead of being a tower cyborg, Deandre is a calm, quiet, and reassuring guide to safety for the 16-year-old girl being chased by a man who may or may not be her biological father. The way Hall, in the reverse image of the mirror, commands this scene is out of this world.
There’s a similar scene later on when Lockjaw’s forces raid the Sisters of the Brave Beaver so they can find and apprehend the young teenager. Just moments before this goes down, Deandre tells Charlene to be quiet and sneaks out into the hallway. This moment feels like the reverse of that earlier moment, even if the outcome is less optimistic.
I love Regina Hall’s performance in One Battle After Another, but I do have one minor complaint: I wish we had seen more of her character. I guess I’ll just have to settle for watching this Oscar hopeful when it becomes available with an HBO Max subscription.
