Wes AnderÂson has been makÂing feaÂture films for 27 years now, and in that time his work has grown more temÂpoÂralÂly and geoÂgraphÂiÂcalÂly speÂcifÂic. Though shot in his native Texas in the late nineÂteen-nineties, his breakÂout picÂture RushÂmore seemed to take place in no one part of the UnitÂed States — and even more strikÂingÂly, no one idenÂtiÂfiÂable era. Few filmÂgoÂers had seen anyÂthing like AnderÂsonÂ’s clean-edged retro senÂsiÂbilÂiÂty before, and in subÂseÂquent projects like The RoyÂal TenenÂbaums and The Life AquatÂic with Steve ZisÂsou, it intenÂsiÂfied conÂsidÂerÂably. Then, in 2012, came MoonÂrise KingÂdom, which took the AnderÂsonÂian aesÂthetÂic to a parÂticÂuÂlar time and place: New EngÂland in the fall of 1965.
Since then, AnderÂson and his colÂlabÂoÂraÂtors have told stoÂries in their disÂtincÂtive visions of EastÂern Europe, Japan, and France — but always, explicÂitÂly or implicÂitÂly, in one periÂod or anothÂer of the mid-twenÂtiÂeth cenÂtuÂry. JudgÂing by its newÂly released trailÂer, the events of AnderÂsonÂ’s next film AsterÂoid City occur in perÂhaps the most mid-twenÂtiÂeth-cenÂtuÂry year imagÂinÂable, 1955, and in small-town AmerÂiÂca at that.
Or rather, very small-town AmerÂiÂca: AsterÂoid City itself appears to be locatÂed in the midÂdle of the AriÂzona desert (though shot in Spain, in keepÂing with AnderÂsonÂ’s increasÂingÂly Europe-oriÂentÂed proÂducÂtion habits), and with nothÂing more excitÂing going on — apart from the occaÂsionÂal disÂtant nuclear-weapons test — than an annuÂal “junior stargazÂer comÂpeÂtiÂtion.”
The film “tells the stoÂry of a beleaÂguered widÂowÂer (Jason SchwartzÂman) who’s busy schlepÂping his four chilÂdren across the counÂtry to see their grandÂfaÂther (Tom HanÂks) when their car sudÂdenÂly breaks down,” writes The Verge’s Charles PulÂliam-More. This strands the famÂiÂly in the titÂuÂlar town, with its “strange earthÂquakes that no one knows the true cause of, fears about whether aliens might be lurkÂing among the humans livÂing in AsterÂoid City, and mulÂtiÂple sightÂings of a celebriÂty (ScarÂlett JohansÂson).” As fans can already guess from this sumÂmaÂry, the ensemÂble cast includes more than a few AnderÂson regÂuÂlars, also includÂing Edward NorÂton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff GoldÂblum, and Bob BalÂaÂban. A case of COVID-19 kept Bill MurÂray from parÂticÂiÂpatÂing, but even so, nobody who sees the trailÂer can doubt that the viewÂing expeÂriÂence of AsterÂoid City will be highÂly AnderÂsonÂian indeed.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Why Do Wes AnderÂson Movies Look Like That?
Wes Anderson’s Shorts Films & ComÂmerÂcials: A Playlist of 8 Short AnderÂsonÂian Works
The PerÂfect SymÂmeÂtry of Wes Anderson’s Movies
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
The movie that had to be made. The truth seems out there… sorÂta.