From the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to TikToks made in the style of, there is a better than average chance you are familiar with either the work or the style of Wes Anderson. With a signature style and a series of films that could be called quirky indie films if it was not for being stacked with A-Listers, more than a few of his films have hit cult like status is he about to add another to the list?
Asteroid City is probably what we would call the 9th film from Wes Anderson as writer and director in the style he is most known for that began with Rushmore but has been only perfected over time. Even from telling stories about submarine explorers or stop motion foxes committing heists Wes Anderson has a style so unmistakable with the use of colour and framing that any others trying to emulate are always compared in the way he tells a story.
In the latest film Asteroid City the core plot is about a family who visit Asteroid City for a science event that the eldest boy has won a prize for. That in it’s simplest form is the film but it is mixed with a cast of characters who are as much the main characters of the film as anyone else that makes it a distinctly Wes Anderson film but it is how the story is told that seals the deal. While the film is about the family, the movie is actually about a documentary about a stage play that is being shown as a film…it is a meta turducken that breaks it’s own fourth walls.
For the most part a comedy as much as any other Wes Anderson film, this one is more like The Fantastic Mr. Fox than the French Dispatch. with it still having more or less a central thread pulling it through a VERY large cast (which if it wasn’t for Oppenheimer’s cameos would be the most we have seen in a film this year). Aside from Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and Jeffery Wright taking supporting cast roles you will see an extensive cast that you will not only recognise from other Wes Anderson films of course but just a grocery list of faces from Stranger Things to Barbie.
As a film the style is that of other Wes Anderson films so you should know what to expect but if you are not familiar then the only thing you can do to understand is to go watch other West Anderson films with his choice of colours and camera panning sounding like it is nothing special but identifies his work like a fingerprint. While there is some special effects in this film largely the amount of practical effects and sets drive the film overall to suck you into this sort of 1970s home movie feel, but in a good way.
So should you go see it? Absolutely, while there are a lot of big movies out this year this is one of the ones on our list of ones that will no doubt have a cult appeal for a long time after they have left the cinema. If meta is the type of comedy you love and Wes Anderson films are your comfort food than this should already be on your must watch list.
Asteroid City is in cinemas across Australia from today
