Leonardo DiCaprio reveals the true stories that fuelled Oscar contender One Battle After Another

The film follows DiCaprio's washed-up single father Bob Ferguson 16 years after his days as a fiery revolutionary, as he's drawn back into a now unfamiliar world to protect his teenage daughter from his old nemesis.

Speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, the star explained how the film seeks to explore the idea that "some of the best laid plans of revolutionaries seem to implode in on themselves".

And while the story is fictional – loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland – he revealed that the revolutionary group known in the film as the French 75 do have real world inspirations.

"[Anderson] based this on a lot of the activities of The Weathermen, late 1960s revolutionaries that were fighting imperialism, the Vietnam War, civil rights," he explained.

"[They were] multicultural people that then had to sort of scatter like rats around the country and try to assimilate themselves and disappear into everyday society, but at a time and a place they were willing to risk their life for their ideology and belief system."

The essence of One Battle After Another, DiCaprio added, is to essentially ask what would happen if many years later that ideology "came back to haunt" the people that had been involved in one of these organisations.

"So you have this guy that's trying to raise a daughter, that's trying to live off the grid, that's trying to not be online, and trying to relate to the next generation – a young girl that he's trying to protect and isn't the best father [to] – and all of a sudden he's at home alone, stoned, and his past comes back to haunt him," he said.

"Those are the building blocks of the character for me. And once you have that kind of set up you think who does he have to rely on?

"He's got his daughter's karate teacher, and there's helicopters flying above his small town, and they're up against all odds and forces that they can't fight against. They're great, flawed anti heroes that I think were just brilliantly written.”

One of the most important supporting characters in the film is Teyana Taylor's excellently named Perfidia Beverly Hills, another member of the French 75 who was romantically involved with DiCaprio's character while they were active in the movement.

Taylor gives a remarkable performance as the fiesty, unpredictable revolutionary, and she also turned to some real historical figures when she was working out how to get under the skin of the character.

"I kind of feel like it was a full circle moment," she explained. "Because one of my favourite books is Assata [the autobiography by Black Liberation Army activist Assata Shakur], and when me and Paul were discussing Perfidia, that was one of the books that was also on his table.

"So I was just like, 'Oh, this is really dope.' And I know exactly where I want to go and what direction I want to go in for Perfidia."

In addition to Assata, Taylor also looked to some of the women from her own life when it came to informing some of her choices in the film.

"Especially as a black woman, we are forced to be strong," she said. "And you see that strength in Perfidia. You also see Perfidia in survival mode, and I've been in a place of having to be in survival mode at a point in my life, you know.

"So it was also just a lot of personal similarities as well. There were a lot of things I didn't agree with, with Perfidia, but also a lot of things that I do agree with and was able to play that from a place of experience."

Anderson might have looked to the past to help inspire some of his revolutionary characters, but – deliberately or not – the film also has clear parallels to very modern-day concerns, both in the USA but also more widely.

Among the issues explored are police violence, the barbaric treatment of immigrants and the growing prevalence of extremist ideologies amongst powerful people – all of which contribute to a sense of urgency and timeliness in the film.

"Paul started writing this movie 20 years ago, so I don't think that it was necessarily connected to the political relevancies of today," star Regina Hall said of those similarities to current events. "But boy does it coincide!"

"Yeah, it's almost like, if the shoe fits, wear it," added Taylor. "And it actually is very relevant to what's happening today, and that's something that they need to handle. You know what I'm saying? Why is this still relevant today... why are we still going through this? And where is the change?

"Especially considering the fact this script has been written 20 years ago. But I definitely think that this movie will create a lot of healthy dialogue and much needed conversations that need to be had."

One Battle After Another is released in UK cinemas on Friday 26th September.

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