Asteroid City: A star-studded film that doubles as a play

A US desert city, mid-1950s: It is called Asteroid City because a meteorite hit here 3000 years ago, leaving a huge crater in its wake. The fictional location is a US government observatory in Wes Anderson’s feature film and is the site of a convention where high school students showcase their technological inventions. The 1950s are the time of the Cold War and the space race: The USA and the Soviet Union are fiercely competing, both on earth and for dominance in space. Therefore, atomic bomb tests are also taking place in the background. But while all these programs are running, extraterrestrial forces come into play. The city is quarantined. Tender love stories are brewing among some stranded in Asteroid City.

Huge star ensemble

Many well-known Hollywood actors narrate the work, including Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie and Tilda Swinton. The film is bursting with dry humor and is a bit more compact than its predecessor “The French Dispatch”.

Strong images

The interpersonal relationships are hardly worked out. The film shines above all on the visual level. Director Wes Anderson has a special aesthetic. His pictorial composition with attention to detail and bright colors clearly come into play. You can see cacti made of papier-mâché and pastel-colored, bright retro backdrops. As the inmates converse from window to window in their bungalows, we see beautifully framed shots that look like paintings.

A cinematic play

At the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, actress Johansson felt like she was in the theater, she said. In fact, the film is framed by a meta level and is actually a theater play itself.

• In cinemas from Thursday: “Asteroid City”United States 2023, 106 mins
• The trailer for the film: