Based on his output over the past decade, it would appear as if Wes Anderson is officially in the stage of his career where he is given free rein to do whatever takes his fancy, which has resulted in his already polarizing style becoming more obvious and pronounced, which has divided audiences and caused him to become quite a contentious figure in the modern cinematic landscape. It seems like he has stopped attempting to make works that are universally appealing, and has chosen instead to focus on the niche audiences that already appreciate his work, or tend to gravitate towards films of this calibre, whether in terms of the stories they tell or the stylish nature of the productions. It also seems as if he is going to keep working within the same general artistic vicinity for the rest of his career, which is either delightful or terrifying depending on how one feels about his work. Mercifully, his most recent effort is one of his absolute best films, a stunning and compelling science fiction comedy that comes to us in the form of Asteroid City, which proves to be a firm reminder of Anderson’s incredible narrative prowess and skill as a filmmaker. Unquestionably a film that represents his quirks and unique style in as vivid a form as possible, there is a nuance that we haven’t seen in one of his projects since the earliest days, when he was still actively pursuing more emotionally-resonant stories that didn’t depend on his unique visual style to garner attention. By far his best work in well over a decade (personally, this is his most well-balanced and beautifully compelling since The Darjeeling Limited over 15 years ago), but one that still sees him developing on the unique style that he has meticulously curated over the course of the past quarter of a century, Asteroid City is an absolute triumph, a delightful and irreverent comedy that may veer towards being more slight in some moments, but makes up for it in many other areas, including the most intriguing story Anderson has told in quite some time, which once again places him at the very heart of what makes contemporary cinema so unique and exciting, which is clear through the countless elements that push this film forward.

There is a certain hesitance that comes with saying that Asteroid City is a return to form, because that is objectively not true. This film is every bit as eccentric and peculiar as everything Anderson has done to date, and fits in squarely with all the work he has been doing recently. The reason this film works better than most is that he has finally managed to have the emotional content of these stories catch up with the stunning visuals, which was the primary flaw with some of his more recent efforts. The term “style over substance” is dreadfully overused, to the point where it has lost all meaning, but it is one that we can still use with caution, especially when discussing Anderson’s more recent output, which has objectively been more driven by the spectacle than the story. His challenge was to find the balance, which he quite easily goes with Asteroid City, in which he takes the most simple concepts and elevates them to be simmering with meaning, each moment beautiful and profound, as well as being blisteringly funny in ways that are difficult to describe and need to be experienced to be fully understood. Anderson is a very skilled director, and it feels like he has finally found the happy medium between his artistic curiosities, which are fully evident throughout this film, which serves as one of his more audacious projects on both a narrative and visual level – this is a film fueled by his interminable creativity, as well as his fervent curiosity that comes when choosing a particular story, which he explores with vigour and dedication, which helps immensely in making this film so wildly entertaining, but never neglecting the meaning that was just as integral to its radical success. There is a sense of heartfulness that goes into Asteroid City that proves we are dealing with the director as he hearkens back to those earlier days of filmmaking, when he didn’t have the resources to realize his vision in terms of the aesthetics, coupled with the well-regarded iconoclast whose work has been received well enough to make him a valuable collaborator for any studio, who seem to gleefully hand over blank cheques with which he is allowed to bring his vision to life. Asteroid City is proof that this approach has merit, granted the story is strong, which is most certainly the case with this delightful film.

However, while we can celebrate this film for being a more mature and interesting approach to certain themes, it’s important to note that it is just as heavily driven by visuals as anything Anderson has done previously, so for those who find his style too twee or formal, Asteroid City is going to be a challenge. Despite my own reservations with his descent into telling stories that serve the aesthetic landscape of his film (rather than the other way around), this is a beautifully-constructed film, and it is perhaps the best use of symmetry and framing that we have seen from the director yet. It sees him venture into an entirely new locale, which allows for a range of unique components, which at the very least makes the film look quite different in comparison to the densely European appearance of The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch, which are still beautiful films, but very different in terms of what Anderson was doing here. For the first time, the director’s influences are not immediately clear, and it requires us to dig slightly deeper to see his inspiration, which appears in more unexpected moments. Anderson seems to be forming much of his conceptual inventory by drawing from 1950s science fiction (his references to the fantastic The Atomic Kid do not go ignored), which he effectively pairs with his distinct style, which is heavily dependent on colour, perhaps more than ever before, which leads us to find comparisons with classic American musicals that are also set in sun-baked corners of the American Southwest, and possess the same gleeful charm. Here, we see the vibrant pastels creating a stunning contrast with the desert landscape in which the film is set, as well as creating a perfect juxtaposition with the interludes where we step out of the main narrative and peer behind the curtain of the play-within-the-film, which is all shot in gorgeous black-and-white. Robert Yeoman has been an incredible collaborator, having started his professional relationship with Anderson from the very start, when he was responsible for the cinematography on Bottle Rocket, and in many ways, he has been just as responsible for creating these unforgettable images as Anderson, who once again produces a work of impeccable and unforgettable beauty, nearly two hours of the most striking visual splendour we’re likely to encounter.

Much like the visuals, Anderson’s films would not be the same without his actors. Many have criticized his tendency to overstuff his work with large ensembles, he clearly adores working with a wide range of characters, and judging by the calibre of actors he manages to get to appear in his films (many of them regular collaborators), it would appear as if they adore working with him in a similar way, which leads to sprawling casts filled to the brim with a combination of major stars and journeyman character actors. Asteroid City has its biggest cast to date, with over two dozen distinct roles being scattered throughout this film – and as we may expect, everyone is absolutely pivotal, even those who only have a few lines. Choosing a standout is impossible – we can look towards regular collaborators like Jason Schwartzman (who is the de facto lead, which reminds us of how brilliant he was in Rushmore), Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton and Jeff Goldblum, or newcomers like Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie, Matt Dillon, Hope Davis or Tom Hanks, who proves to be a perfect fit for Anderson’s world, being able to lean into his inherent quirks that are often overlooked in roles that require him to play more down-to-earth characters. This is only scratching the surface of the film in terms of the cast – there are a number of great actors that we don’t even notice until their third or fourth appearance on our screen, since the director’s tendency to form his films as vibrant tableaux, filled with intricate and hidden details, so we don’t even register some of them until later, which allows this film to have a sense of genuine surprise embedded deep within, to which Anderson constantly returns. No one is doing work that is particularly groundbreaking (although Schwartzman is better than ever, and shows a depth we haven’t seen from him in quite some time), and instead are given eccentric and charming characters that form part of this wide-ranging ensemble, each actor turning in strong work that adds layers to the film and contributes to the feeling of this being a tapestry of different quirks, each one represented in these actors as they voyage with Anderson into yet another lovably peculiar narrative, which seems to be a highly coveted artistic endeavour.

In light of all the complexity that underlies this film (but which is never overtly referenced until the end), there is clearly something deeper that underpins Asteroid City, which leads us to ask a very simple question: what does it all mean? You could ask this of any of Anderson’s films, but not only is this one his most ambitious from a narrative level, but there are also certain aspects that are far more profound than his more conventional use of simpler, more direct storylines. This film has many layers, and it is Anderson at his most metafictional, exploring both the world in which this film exists, as well as another fictional version of reality that sits just above it – the entire film is constructed as if it was a play being conceived in the imagination of a well-regarded playwright, and while this isn’t a revolutionary concept in itself, it allows Anderson the chance to investigate not only the very specific theme        s that propel this film, but also a range of other ideas that have to do with the art of creation itself, which makes Asteroid City one of his most self-reflective films, a meditation on art in its purest and most undistilled form, crafted by a director who has often been accused of overlooking these aspects in his self-imposed journey to create symmetry and visual splendour while sacrificing his narrative skills. It seems like these allegations of a lack of originality or complexity will come to a halt with this film, which is both beautifully made and thought-provoking, which seems logical in hindsight, but also easily overlooked when we realize that most of what attracts us to these films is their distinct style that is becoming but often quite limited when it comes to the storyline, which here exists in perfect synchronicity with the more quiet and earnest depiction of the human condition that Anderson is so eager to convey throughout this film. It does sometimes feel like the film is nothing more than a series of vignettes loosely tied together by an overarching narrative, but as it progresses, we start to notice further connections, which add up to create a sense of incredible melancholy and honesty that is integral to the film’s identity, which is a lot more captivating in practice than it seems at a cursory glance, one of the many delightful surprises that undercut this film and make it so extraordinarily unique.

As is often the case, Asteroid City is something of an acquired taste, although it is far more interesting than some of Anderson’s recent work, which has been good at times, but falls short of greatness on more than one occasion. The elements that prevented those films from reaching their full potential are mercifully absent here, which lends a lot of credence to a film that worked hard to ensure there was enough depth to cover the many different ideas Anderson had when conceiving of this story. This is a perfect example of a film that exists at the perfect intersection of the director’s artistic curiosities, and thus should have much wider appeal – for those who are more cynical of Anderson’s quirky style, this film offers a more grounded, meaningful story that touches on existential philosophy in meaningful ways, and for those who have been constantly devoted to his work from the beginning, those lovable aspects are still present, simply having been fleshed out more than ever before, which adds meaning in places we may not have initially expected. It is quite difficult to not fall under the spell of this film – there are many aspects that warrant our attention, and it often feels like an immense directorial feat, albeit one that is put together with ease by Anderson, whose self-assurance and genuine belief in his work finally feels like an asset, since it was used extremely well here, and makes us reconsider those trite arguments that reduce his work to being style over substance, when in reality he is just a director with a very precise visual approach to the stories he tells, and who has the intention of realizing these projects in the way he sees most appropriate, rather than trying to fit it into existing categories, which has itself becoming a classification in itself. In short, Asteroid City is a real delight – funny, heartfelt and meaningful, the film plumbs the depths of the human condition, looking not only at themes as universal as family, but also focusing on identity, sexuality and the process of creation, with the artistry that drives this film being present in the reflective nature of the story, which oscillates between perspectives with incredible vigour, creating a multilayered set of ideas, each one unique and compelling in its own unique, meaningful way.