Do I love Wes Anderson’s VSCO Girl era? Always. And the trailer for Asteroid City really does have that vibe to it. (Said with love.) To be fair, a lot of Anderson’s work has this tint to it. It’s why we love him, but man does the trailer for Asteroid City look like the hottest person you know having the best vacation on their Instagram. And I love every single second of it. As our Britt Hayes did say, Instagram did rip off Anderson’s aesthetic (which I agree with), so this vibe makes a lot of sense.
Anderson, who released The French Dispatch back in 2021, is a visionary director who brings his oddball charm to each of his films, and the wide array of stories he creates leads to fans having a wide range of favorites. For me, I’ve always been a Moonrise Kingdom fan first and foremost, so something like Asteroid City really is in my wheelhouse—especially when you get into the synopsis for it:
ASTEROID CITY takes place in a fictional American desert town circa 1955. Synopsis: The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
And the trailer is, as is always the case with Anderson’s work, beautiful while also emotionally charged, and god this looks good.
In select theaters on Friday, June 16 and releasing nationwide on Friday, June 23, the movie brings us a classic Anderson vibe with a beautiful cast, and there’s a lot to unpack about this trailer—mainly how hot it is.
Wes Anderson and aliens?
Anderson, for the most part, deals in oddity but not the unknown. So, to set Asteroid City in a situation where aliens could be a part of the story is a new adventure for him, but one that does feel right up his alley. The reason I brought up Moonrise Kingdom earlier is because that movie was based around two kids who fell in love while a bigger force was coming to impede the island life the adults were living. And Asteroid City, while different, has similar enough themes that it makes me excited to see what Anderson has in store this time around.
Jeffrey Wright, a new addition to Anderson’s collection of actors he loves to collaborate with, as Wright was in The French Dispatch before this, seems to be in charge of the city, and he has Tony Revolori at his side. And that’s enough for me to love whatever their deal is with the aliens. Come on, Wright and Revolori talking to aliens? It’s going to be great!
Movie stars, oh my
Scarlett Johansson is, herself, a movie star, nut seeing her set as a 1950s starlet with this hair? Actually iconic. This is the first time that Johansson’s face has made its debut in an Wes Anderson movie. She played Nutmeg in the movie Isle of Dogs, where she lent her voice to the animated film. So, seeing her in the iconic Anderson tint as a classic Hollywood star is incredible. And pair that with her relationship that seems to be brewing with Jason Schwartzman’s character and … oh no this is going to be very hot.
To be clear, that isn’t new for Wes Anderson, but his trailers are less overly hot and more oddball and charming. So, to see how hot all the actors we know and love are in this movie is shocking. Even Tom Hanks had me pausing, but really hot bearded Jason Schwartzman flirting with ScarJo is truly something to see.
But for both Schwartzman and Johansson (as well as Wright and Revolori), they’ve been here before. And there are others in the movie that we don’t get to spend the most time with, in the trailer, that are staples of Anderson’s collection. But then there’s a slew of new actors coming to our favorite aesthetically pleasing filmography.
New actors to the Wes Anderson-verse
Whatever is going on with Steve Carell and Liev Schreiber? Great! No notes! Schreiber is not new to Anderson’s world—he was in The French Dispatch as well—but Carell is. And it does mix a collection of stars we know and love from Anderson’s filmography with new actors, and it’s a great group this time around!
The cast of characters include Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, and Jeff Goldblum.
Whatever Asteroid City wants to bring to us, I’m invested in it, but that’s always the case with Wes Anderson movies—for me, at least.
(featured image: Focus Features)
Published: Mar 29, 2023 03:16 pm