FILM
ASTEROID CITY
Reaching for the stars: Hollywood actor Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson).
Hanging out in Asteroid City;
Welcome to Alien Radio FM;
“Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?”
★★★★ OUT 23 JUNE / CERT 12A 105 MINS
DIRECTOR Wes Anderson
CAST Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody
PLOT Photographer Augie Steenbeck (Schwartzman) and his children make a stop in the remote desert town of Asteroid City (population 87) to repair his car. While there, he encounters some unusual characters — and has a brief brush with life from another world.
YES, WES ANDERSON has — as the jibe goes — made his film again. For some, that’s seen as a negative: that somehow the whimsical Texan auteur is simply a one-trick pony. Certainly, few filmmakers have visual hallmarks so culturally ingrained that they could spark a TikTok trend. But Asteroid City, his 11th feature, proves that making your film again is no bad thing when said film is always beautifully, painstakingly, lovingly crafted to within an inch of its life.