The pastel-soaked idiosyncrasies of Wes Anderson are, once again, cultivating controversy as the esoteric filmmaker’s cosmic caper Asteroid City begins its rollout. For any sceptics hoping this will be the film to tip the tide, expect disappointment. This one is full-tilt Anderson.
The French Dispatch was a strange misfire; it was very much Andersonian in design but veered too far into indulgence even for the devotees, tiptoeing on the verge of parody. Asteroid City is a return to form and whimsy for Wes and echoes the sensibilities of his best films like Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Set in the mid-50s, Asteroid City is a US desert town (named so after a meteorite encounter) that is the subject of a play that we follow in textured technicolour; there’s also a paralleling narrative in which a monochromatic documentary follows the production and troubles of the play presented by Bryan Cranston’s aptly-named ‘Host’.
The narrative layering is a classic trope from Anderson’s book of tricks and the film is stacked with the most significant ensembles ever put to film from usual suspects like Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, and Tilda Swinton to newcomers Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie and even Steve Carrell – who you’d be forgiven for thinking has worked with the filmmaker before because their comedic sensibilities seem like a surefire match (a quick Google search dispels that but he’s so scene-stealing in Asteroid City that it just makes sense). It’s a who’s who of A-listers and everyone is excellently cast in this sandbox, bringing the perfect wryness and downbeat sincerity to this world of deadpan expressions and emotions.
But Anderson’s usual visual splendour is the talking point again, each shot so meticulously crafted and symmetrically shot that you can’t help but wonder how he continues to make it look so effortless time and time again. Every frame is littered with blink-and-you-miss-it details and nuanced jokes that it would take several viewings just to soak it all in. The use of colour and landscapes (sun-drenched suburbia to a rainy, surrealist metropolis and then softly-stroked outer space in stop motion, no less) is beautiful and so seamlessly blended together that such eye-popping, visual creativity is almost second-nature for Anderson at this point that it’s easy to dismiss. There’s a surrealism to the aesthetic that matches the film’s starry-eyed themes of love, family, grief, art, and the mysteries of the universe. It’s tender and reminiscent in its exploration of the above which adds a gorgeous, imaginative yet sad undertone to the proceedings.
All of which is to say that, for a Wes Anderson movie, it’s surprisingly deft and moving in its thematic ideas. While it still feels a little hollow in terms of pondering one’s grief (considering that’s such a central narrative conceit), it’s far more involving than The French Dispatch and even Isle of Dogs. In fact, I don’t think the filmmaker has been as introspective since 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel almost a decade ago now. Combined with the usual wit and visual grandeur we’ve come to love from Anderson, it’s an otherworldly return to form that makes for one of Anderson’s best. And surely one of the best films of 2023 too.
Asteroid City will be released in cinemas in the UK and Eire on 23rd June 2023.
Asteroid City
Summary
Far more involving than The French Dispatch and even Isle of Dogs, Asteroid City is an otherworldly return to form that makes for one of Anderson’s bes.
