One Battle After Another
- Matthew Stewart
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Leonardo DiCaprio - 55:03 (34.05%)
Sean Penn - 33:02 (20.43%)
Chase Infiniti - 31:05 (19.22%)
Teyana Taylor - 19:19 (11.95%)
Benicio del Toro - 13:11 (8.15%)
Regina Hall - 8:06 (5.01%)
Launching a lead actress awards campaign for Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another was bound to provoke intense scrutiny, but that’s a risk Warner Bros. was willing to take in order for their movie to potentially become the first with six acting Oscar nominations (and maybe even four wins). Regardless of accuracy, her official placement stems not from a generous desire to boost the careers of all three main OBAA actresses, but rather from studio greed.
That being said, I don’t think there is an objectively correct category in which to place her. In observing the response to my sharing this data on X, I’ve come to realize that OBAA is a real Rorschach test of a film that leaves every viewer feeling differently depending on how the story’s elements come together for them. There are at least half a dozen schools of thought on how the cast should be categorized, and none are technically right or wrong.
Since my first viewing, I have consistently held the opinion that Bob and Lockjaw are the film’s only lead characters. Although Bob appears on screen a great deal more, I believe both roles are of equal narrative importance, with Lockjaw serving as an obviously Javert-esque lead antagonist who drives the plot more than any other character.
Perfidia and Willa could have qualified as leads in my mind had their roles remained focal for more than one-fifth of the running time each. In reality, both are presented as secondary protagonists who should be considered supporting under the binary system. From an overall narrative standpoint, I don’t see the justification for separating them.
Should Infiniti be included in this year’s Best Actress Oscar lineup, hers will be the category’s 20th shortest performance ever in terms of actual time and fifth shortest by percentage, with the top four on that second list having all been nominated at least 50 years ago. Of course, that doesn’t mean much if I’m pushing Penn as non-supporting, since his would be the 11th lowest percentage in either lead category. That’s just the nature of this film, as even DiCaprio’s proportional time is set to put him in Best Actor’s 7th percentile.
If you left OBAA seeing DiCaprio and Infiniti as co-leads, I don’t begrudge you that interpretation, but the film just hit me differently. And I think it’s important to call out those who initiated her campaign since actual narrative analysis doesn’t concern them either way.