Asteroid City Review

July 5, 2023 at 4:45pm
By Jason Stettner

One of the more fun cinematic events for me is going out to watch the latest Wes Anderson movie. They’re just the most delightful of little tales and always provide something different. So with Asteroid City I was curious to see what the direction was this time around. It’s a movie that deals with grief, perhaps one of the themes we see often explored within the collection of Wes Anderson movies but it is rather deeply dove into here.

There is of course some deeper meaning involved within the back story of this one, but vastly it’s about actors and the role they play. It’s clearly designed as a play, being almost two storied perspectives mixed into one. You have Augie (Jason Schwartzman) grieving the loss of his wife while bringing his family to the rural Asteroid City.

On the flip of that, you have a group of actors putting on a play. It’s an interesting situation with layers of depth to them, and that perhaps may likely be confusing for most. I myself found the story a tad odd in terms of not overly being straight forward to follow and almost meandering. I liked what I saw, but for the first time in this collection of films found myself bored fairly often while viewing it.

That mixed in with the mention I’ve made of it being hard to follow, you get a more layered sense of confusion instead of satisfaction by the time this tale is concluded. Not the sense where I felt the desire to look it up, but more just sort of meh confusion which wasn’t the greatest feeling.

As per the usual with Wes Anderson movies the film was aesthetically stunning. The particular color palette here was splendid to take in having a very stark style to it. The symmetry of shots was beautiful and the camera work was excellent. It was zany, over the top and everything I expected it to be.

The performances were excellent and everyone had a developed story despite there being so many differing individuals present in this invasion like story. It certainly was funny as well at moments, but as I did say I found myself bored at points which is a feeling I don’t love when watching movies.

The Conclusion

Asteroid City is a really interesting look at grief and how it impacts people, it was sadly the weakest of the Wes Anderson movies for me but still an enjoyable little adventure. It’s got an incredible cast who give really interesting performances.

It’s a movie about the actors behind the productions we enjoy and gives off really fun small town vibes. It’s a place where not a whole lot happens, until suddenly a whole lot is going on. It’s a situation of wonder, hilarity and weirdness. It doesn’t fully land in every way but it’s definitely an interesting offering.

Something very different to enjoy, and something interesting to think about. I just wish it was a bit more clear and a tad more exciting as I’ve never quite felt bored prior in this type of film so that was disappointing. At the end though, it’s certainly art as film and I’ll always appreciate this unique styling.

Asteroid City Review at Theather with Standard Viewing

Rating Overall: 6.9