One Battle After Another
Too Many Quests, Not Enough Feelings
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$65 – 89MM
Mythosis universal quests used
5
Audience appeal
1.46% – 1.78%
Hidden potential
$626– 692MM
Sep 2025. One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, reimagines the action‑comedy genre through a politically charged lens. At its heart lies a father’s desperate search for his daughter, a journey that collides with a revolutionary’s self‑serving ambitions and a government official’s ruthless thirst for retribution.
The movie dazzles with Anderson’s signature set‑piece bravura and Jonny Greenwood’s electric score. Yet its narrative balance wavers due to the primary quest being inconsistent. Also, there are multiple quests that create a sense of collage rather than cohesive drama. The result is a film that feels thematically bold but architecturally uneven.
1. The invisible plot structure of One Battle After Another
1A. Script of One Battle After Another borrows 91% of its events from 5 mythological tales
Perfidia’s quest is driven by selfishness. The quest borrows events from the tale of Valmiki in Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Perfidia are self-centred and don’t care about the interest of others.
The universal quests of Family & Expedition drive Bob’s quest.
- The desire to protect & nurture drives Bob’s quest of Family. The quest borrows events from the tale of Demeter in Greek mythology. Both Demeter and Bob embark on finding their missing loved ones.
- Bob’s quest also borrows events from the quest of Expedition. His desire for finding an elusive object/person mirrors events from the tale of Jason in Greek mythology. Similar to Jason’s quest for The Golden Fleece, Bob embarks on finding Willa.
The desire to punish offenders drives Lockjaw’s quest of Vengeance. The quest borrows events from the tale of Duryodhan in Hindu mythology. Duryodhan’s treacherous attempt to take over the kingdom is similar to Lockjaw’s trying to get inducted into the Christmas Adventurers.
The desire to be in a safe environment drives Willa’s under-developed quest of Tranquillity. The quest borrows few events from the tale of Odysseus in Greek mythology. Both Odysseus and Willa navigate hostile territory with the help of others.
Sergio & The Christmas Adventurers have non-existent quests of Honour & Preservation.
Mythosis plot structure
137,966
Tales interweaved
Valmiki, Duryodhan, Demeter & Odysseus
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. Potential of One Battle After Another's plot structure: $65 – 89MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code. The Code is a set of principles for creating compelling stories. These storytelling principles reveal the strength of a story’s plot structure.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of One Battle After Another
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. One Battle After Another uses 3 universal quests of Accumulation, Vengeance & Family. The quest of Tranquillity is underdeveloped.
- In Blockbusters, every character mirrors ONLY ONE universal quest. Bob mirrors the quest of Family & Expedition. Lockjaw mirrors Vengeance whereas Perfidia mirrors the quest of Accumulation.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Bob borrows 18% events from the quest of Family & 8% from Expedition. Lockjaw borrows 21% events from Vengeance. Perfidia borrows 16% from Accumulation. Willa borrows 8% from Tranquillity.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. One Battle After Another’s quest interweaving score of 0.50 is at par.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of One Battle After Another
The screenplay borrows 91% of its events from five universal quests that gives the story a deep resonance. Audiences instinctively recognize the underlying emotional currents.
Bob mirroring two universal quests makes him structurally inconsistent. “Sometimes a grieving father, sometimes an adventurer” dilutes his emotional arc and prevents him from anchoring the film.
None of the characters are layered or complex. They all borrow too little from their respective quests, leaving them archetypal but hollow.
The Script Score measures the potency of a plot structure. Higher its adherence to the principles of Mythosis Code, greater is the potency. The Script Score helps estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.05
Audience appeal
1.46% – 1.78%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. Ideal plot structure of One Battle After Another
We have identified 32 mythological tales. These are the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours embedded in our shared memories. Each tale is the richest expression of the pursuit of a human desire. The tales have a unique pattern of events spread over 5 major arcs.
32 mythological tales strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential. First, we map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale. This exercise reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Second, identify missing events to plug the gaps. Plugging gaps deepens the character quest. Third, use missing events to strengthen the interweaving between various quests.
3A. Gaps in the current plot structure
Inconsistent Protagonist: Bob mirrors two universal quests of Family and Expedition. This duality fragments his arc and weakens his emotional anchor.
Underpowered Quest Borrowing: No character borrows substantially from their respective quest. As a result, none are layered or complex. The lack of events across the various quests also impacts the pacing of the story.
Narrative Clutter: Supporting characters like Sergio and the Christmas Adventurers have non-existent quests, adding surface-level texture without structural purpose.
Lacks Cohesion: Perfidia’s quest operates in isolation, never meaningfully interwoven with the film’s other narrative threads. As a result, the time spent developing her character feels disconnected from the story’s emotional and structural core, diminishing its overall cohesion.
3B. Unlocking the hidden potential
Deepening the existing quests in One Battle After Another enhances character development, narrative structure and pacing. However, it doesn’t fully resolve the issues of clutter and cohesion. The film’s untapped brilliance emerges when reframed through Mythosis Plot Structure #872,304, a layered blueprint that fuses legendary archetypes from Demeter, Duryodhan, Odysseus, and Hanuman. In this reimagined lens:
- Bob single-mindedly embodies Demeter’s search, anchoring the emotional core with clarity and grief.
- Lockjaw channels the unscrupulous ambition of Duryodhan, driven by vindictiveness.
- Willa reflects the courage and intelligence of Odysseus, navigating hostile terrain with quiet resilience.
- Sergio mirrors the loyalty and sacrifice of Hanuman, offering spiritual ballast and emotional depth.
- Perfidia’s quest remains a strong structural setup, now better contextualized within the grid.
This alignment transforms the film from a collage into a tapestry of four harmonized quests: Family, Vengeance, Tranquillity, and Honor. By weaving in missing events from these universal tales, the structure strengthens character motivations and interlinks the arcs with greater cohesion.
With this refined foundation of universal human behaviour, One Battle After Another could unlock deeper audience engagement and drive lifetime domestic box office revenues of $626–692MM.
Access Mythosis Plot structure # 872,304 – the unique blockbuster blueprint of One Battle After Another
Tags: Duryodhan, Vengeance, Demeter, Family, Odysseus, Tranquillity, Valmiki, Accumulation, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ghoulardi Film Company, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2025