Why Greg Bovino is being linked to One Battle After Another: Fans call out striking similarities between embattled Border Patrol Commander and Sean Penn's role as a lawless military officer

One Battle After Another viewers have been watching the film in a different light after discovering similarities between Sean Penn's character and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. 

In the film, Penn plays Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, a corrupt military officer whose authority is threatened when an immigration detention center he oversees is targeted by a group of left-wing revolutionaries (Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor). 

Paul Thomas Anderson's black comedy has been greeted with five-star reviews across the board and even deemed 'the defining film of a generation', with the movie hotly tipped to take Best Film at the Oscars. 

Amid the film's growing popularity, viewers have questioned whether Penn's role was inspired by Bovino - who recently became the face of Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. 

In the film, Col. Lockjaw is promoted in rank after a successful operation against the fictional left-wing terrorist group French 75. 

He is bestowed The Bedford Forrest Medal of Honor, named in honour of a slave trader turned confederate general who goes on to hold the title of first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. 

Bovino also had an abrupt rise through the ranks. 

Bovino, a border patrol officer for 30 years, previously served as a chief in the backwater sector of El Centro, California but became an overnight public figure when he took on the role as tactical commander for a mass raid in Los Angeles last June. 

He quickly became the divisive face of Trump’s immigration blitzes in Chicago and Minneapolis, with questions raised over his tactics. 

Like Col. Lockjaw, Bovino is said to have been compared to a confederate general in an email from a colleague, as per The American Prospect. 

It's alleged that Bovino did not reprimand his colleague at the time but later described the email as 'bogus and worthless' when questioned about it. 

Another similarity fans have discovered is One Battle After Another's running gag that sees Leonardo Dicaprio’s character’s unable to remember the secret passwords used to communicate with members of his terror cell.

A recent data leak is said to have contained Bovino's email passwords, which after appearing on the dark web are now viewable via multiple data breach scrapers. 

While director and writer Anderson previously stated that One Battle After Another is based on the 1990 postmodern novel Vineland, that hasn't stopped viewers from speculating that Bovino also provided inspiration for the film. 

Taking to X/Twitter, viewers penned: 'Congratulations to Sean Penn on his Oscar nomination for playing the role of Greg Bovino in One Battle After Another';

'Does anyone else think Bovino resembles Sean Penn's character in One Battle After Another?'; 'greg bovino is just that sean penn character';

'Anyone else think that Greg Bovino closely resembles Sean Penn as Colonel Lockjaw in “One Battle After Another”? Bar being much, much tinier'; 

'Just now realizing Sean Penn is emulating Greg Bovino in “One Battle After Another.”'; 'It sure felt like Sean Penn was portraying Greg Bovino in One Battle After Another. (Which I loved.)' 

Daily Mail has contacted the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Anderson's representatives for comment. 

This week, it emerged that Bovino has been reassigned and locked out of his government social media accounts.

Bovino will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, the Atlantic reported on Monday, citing a Homeland Security official and two people with knowledge of the change.

He also had his government social media accounts revoked on the orders of his boss, Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott, Homeland Security sources confirmed to the Daily Mail. 

The fallout comes after Bovino spent the weekend defending the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street. 

He had tweeted multiple times 'don't assault federal officers' in response to random X users who shared biographical information that portrayed Pretti in a positive light. 

In response to one account claiming that Pretti 'never at any time produced a gun,' Bovino wrote that 'the SUSPECT confronted and assaulted officers and was armed while doing so.' 

He even got into spats with lawmakers, including Republican Thomas Massie, who wrote that 'carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government.' 

Bovino told the Kentucky Congressman: 'Attacking law enforcement is not a right like you want it to be.'

The commander also shot back at Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico, both of whom called for independent investigations into the shooting, as well as author Stephen King. 

Protestors gathered for a 'goodbye Gregory Bovino' noise demonstration this week, banging drums and clattering pieces of wood outside the hotel where the Border Control commander is reportedly staying.

The demonstrators clashed with agents in gas masks, who fired irritants towards the crowd.

After tweeting over 40 responses to various reactions to the Pretti shooting on Saturday and Sunday, Bovino's X account suddenly went silent. 

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said Bovino had not been fired and remained a ‘key part of the president’s team.’