The Oscars have always been Hollywood’s most glamorous therapy session, where the industry lays bare its collective psyche under the klieg lights of the red carpet. The upcoming awards season could cut a little deeper, reflecting an evolving world as they crystallize around a cultural split that’s dividing America. Will this be a showdown between muscular, action-drenched epics and whisper-quiet portraits of emotional fragility?

In one corner, flexing his auteur muscle, stands Paul Thomas Anderson with “ One Battle After Another ,” a sprawling, politically charged epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio that practically seethes with machismo. Anderson has never been shy about exploring masculinity, but this film marks his most unapologetically testosterone-fueled entry since Daniel Day-Lewis

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