Asteroid City: The most retrofuturistic but weirdest Wes Anderson film

Wes Anderson's films are heavily popular for four characteristics: vibrant colours, symmetric compositions, whimsical narratives, and a heavily star-studded cast. These four create the signature and style of Wes Anderson films, and the odd approach of these films has earned them cult status among fans for years. 

After two years of French Dispatch, Anderson is back with Asteroid City, the film with his signature directorial style. Moreover, this film has a plot inside another plot, which is a big change in Anderson's style.

Set in an alternate universe of 1955, the story involves multiple characters but mainly revolves around Augie Steenbeck, his family, and Midge Campbell. Augie is a war photographer who brings his children to the remote town of Asteroid City, where an annual stargazing contest is happening. 

He came with his children to heal from the grief of losing his wife two weeks ago, but the children don't know. Meanwhile, Augie becomes enamoured with emerging actress Midge. They bond over their grief, which they can't express.

Inevitably, Augie's children learn about their mother's death from their grandfather. Still processing grief, Woodrow wins the stargazing contest and is offered a fellowship by organiser General Gibson. But the program falls short when an alien spaceship hovers over the town and steals the prehistoric meteorite, the town's key exhibit. 

Fearing a biological hazard, General Gibson orders the lockdown of the entire town, reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic when the film was shot.

But mysteriously, after the whole world learns about the quarantine, Gibson reluctantly calls off the lockdown. In a series of events, the aliens return the meteorite back to its place in the most Anderson-esque way possible. 

Why did the aliens come for the meteorite, and why did they ever return it? The characters' interactions look monotonous and artificial; is this really a film? 

Asteroid City faces an existential crisis as a film, but narrator Bryan Cranston reveals it's all just a Broadway play.

After the revelation, it's clear to the audience that the whole film is a story within a story. Conrad Earp is the playwright, and Schubert Green is the director behind the play. 

When Asteroid City's actors ask what their acting's meaning is, they can't answer. The existential crisis is nothing new to humans, and the film mirrors their interaction with this concept.

Wes Anderson films generally lack serious human emotions, but Asteroid City crosses a line. The characters' actions are not meaningful; fans and critics can only theorise about them. 

The cast is so star-studded that even some prominent actors are making cameos here, including Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrian Brody, Margot Robbie, and many others. 

Still, the film has three major weaknesses: style over substance, idiosyncratic storytelling, and emotional distance from the audience.

Asteroid City might be the most oddball of Anderson's films, earning only $6.9 million against a budget of $25 million. 

With its convoluted plots, this film poses a challenge for vibrantly coloured, symmetrical-style film fans to decipher its deeper meanings.

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