A journey through the landscapes that inspired the film’s powerful themes of resilience, rebellion, and identity.

October 27, 2025: The cinematic world of One Battle After Another has captivated audiences with its raw emotion and breathtaking portrayal of California — but behind the movie’s drama lies a real-world landscape just as compelling. To understand the heart of the film, we traveled across the Golden State, tracing the locations that shaped its story of struggle and survival.

A Cinematic California Brought to Life

From the fog-drenched cliffs of Big Sur to the sun-soaked streets of Los Angeles, One Battle After Another showcases a California that feels both familiar and mythic. Director Laura Vasquez has said that the film’s setting isn’t just a backdrop — it’s a character in itself. “California is a place of contradictions,” she explained. “It’s where dreams are made and broken, often in the same breath.”

Where Fiction Meets Reality

Our journey began in Monterey, where the film’s opening sequence was shot. Locals recall how production transformed the sleepy coastal town into a war-torn version of itself. Just a few miles south, Big Sur’s rugged beauty provided the visual metaphor for the film’s theme — isolation amidst grandeur.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, we visited several real-life neighborhoods featured in pivotal scenes. The contrasts between Hollywood’s glitz and East L.A.’s grit echo the movie’s exploration of ambition versus authenticity.

Stories from Behind the Scenes

Residents and extras who took part in filming shared their own experiences of seeing their communities reflected on screen. “They really captured the duality of California,” one participant said. “It’s beautiful, but it’s also brutal — just like the story.”

The Spirit of the Film Lives On

Even months after its release, One Battle After Another continues to inspire conversations about power, politics, and personal truth. Exploring the real locations behind the movie reminds us that these aren’t just sets — they’re lived spaces filled with the same tension and hope that the film so vividly portrays.

California remains, as ever, a place of reinvention. And through this film, audiences are invited to see it not as a postcard-perfect paradise, but as a mirror of human endurance.