Review: Asteroid City

If there is a director that’s the walking definition of the Auteur Theory, it’s probably Wes Anderson.

Asteroid City is the latest film from director Wes Anderson starring literally everyone. Anderson is very well known by critics, audiences, cinephiles, and apparently TikTok users for his incredibly distinct visual style and deadpan sense of comedy. You don’t have to even know much of Anderson’s filmography to begin with; you should be easily able to recognize his signature style just by looking at it.

Anderson’s latest film is no exception to that rule; Asteroid City continues to showcase the filmmaker’s brand ingenuity and deliver one of the more entertaining and somewhat personal films he’s ever made since 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.'

Cinematography and composition has always been the most notable aspect of most every Wes Anderson movie since his sophomore film Rushmore, and for Asteroid City Anderson makes no exception. This film is just as visually unique as the director’s other films, but oddly enough not in the way you may think. There’s less emphasis on symmetry with this film compared to films like Grand Budapest and The French Dispatch and more on actual composition and blocking of the characters, probably since unlike his previous films Anderson is now working with the whole 21:9 aspect ratio for this one. Pair all that with the gorgeous production design from Oscar winner and frequent Anderson collaborator Adam Stockhausen and you got one of the best looking films of the year so far.

Anderson’s penmanship is just as witty and clever as ever, and for this film there’s also a distinct human element that seems more prominent here than in past movies. The film juggles around with the theme of loss and Anderson writes some pretty hard-hitting scenes of characters dealing with personal loss all while making this film uniquely funny at the same time. Alexandre Desplat’s score was great, the pacing was nice and quick, and there wasn’t a dull performance out of the bajillion actors starring in this film, with the notable highlights being Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson.

This is Wes Anderson at his most unapologetic, and for people not already a fan your mileage may vary with this one. The film goes for a more meta route when it comes to the story and not all of it lands well for me; I don’t expect this film to win many newcomers over with how meta the plot is. Granted this is far more accessible and focused than Anderson’s last film The French Dispatch, but with how big and ambitious this film gets at times one can’t help but long for a more simpler premise that Wes was at one point cranking out.

Overall though this was still a pretty great film; this was one of the more memorable films that Wes Anderson made in a long time. I’m really happy to have seen this one and I honestly would not mind going out to see it again. Fans of Anderson will no doubt enjoy this film just fine, but for anyone curious about checking out a Wes Anderson film for the first time I highly recommend you give this film a chance and see for yourself.

Final Verdict: 8/10