The movies of Wes Anderson have been solid 10/10 (or 5/5) since Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). Sure, he “only” directed four movies since (five if you include Asteroid City), but that’s still an impressive feat. I should note that I am only talking about feature-length films, and I have yet to see The French Dispatch (2021), which is on my Disney+ queue and has been for some time. But, for some reason, his older stuff doesn’t “fully” click with me. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen most of them, and so far, I haven’t rated a movie of his under 7/10, but something inside is still “weary” of seeing his films because they are so quirky, unique and full of characters that must click with you, otherwise, you won’t enjoy the movie. And Asteroid City is no exception. So, I went to the cinema and… had a blast.
In my Letterboxd review (feel free to follow me there 😉 I wrote: “Finally, we have an answer to a question: What would it look like if Wes Anderson directed an existential movie about life, sadness and dealing with loss?” and I still stand by it. Asteroid City has all the trademarks we’ve come to expect and love (?) from Wes. From uniquely quirky, almost detached characters, to every shot framed in a deliberate way, to the use of bright pastel colours… And yet, this movie felt a bit different than the rest. The ingredients are the same, but this film feels like one of the most personal mainstream movies I have seen in ages, as it deals with loss and a sense of isolation. It almost felt like this was Wes’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in his weird, quirky way.
If I were to list everyone I enjoyed in this movie, I would have to name half of the Hollywood; that’s how stacked this movie is. So, I will just mention some absolute highlights. Jason Schwartzman might have given his best performance ever; I enjoyed him in this very much. Scarlett Johansson has always been one of my favourites, and she yet again didn’t disappoint her scenes were funny at times and quite sad at others. But somehow, an actress who is only in this movie for one scene stole the entire film for me, and I debated whether this is a spoiler, but her name is on the poster, so here it goes. Margot Robbie plays Jason’s wife, who passed away (that is brought within the first five minutes of this movie, so it’s not a spoiler), and her only scene with him at the end “unlocked” the film for me. If there were Oscars for “Best Performance Under 5 Minutes”, she would have had it in the bag; that’s how much I loved her performance.
But I think it was also due to its placement that scene was smartly put towards the end, and we only see her due to some creative choices this movie makes in its last third. I won’t spoil what those choices are, but they also worked for me, and because of those choices, it made sense for her to be there. Most importantly, though, by that time, we have spent most of the movie with Jason’s character not letting himself grieve his wife, and that scene acted as almost this catalyst for his character. I liked that choice.
And that’s the thing with Asteroid City. Honestly, this might be the most Wes Anderson movie that has ever Wes Andersoned. Especially with his choice of us seeing two stories, and when we slowly figure out what is happening, we are either with it or not. From what I have read, many people were still not sure; whether they got everything this movie was going for, and I can say the same. But I can also see myself loving this movie even more on a future rewatch. Because I was so close to another 5/5 rating, but something stopped me. But that is something I would imagine will go away upon further rewatch, as I believe this movie will reward repeat viewings to catch more details and to understand everything better. And honestly, I can’t wait.
Overall, Asteroid City delivered what I expected and then some. Anderson is a king of his unique world full of quirky, witty characters that you can’t help but love for one reason or another. The movie also asks you to go with it and put everything else aside, and if you do that and immerse yourself in this half-abandoned, desert city where (almost) nothing happens only for there to be a week where everything seems to happen at once, you will love it. I had a good time with some fine actors, even if I am still not 100% sure I understood/got everything Wes wanted me to get. But I will return to Asteroid City at some point; I can guarantee that.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
