The events of the film, a representation of a fictional play, also titled Asteroid City, unfold in a parallel narrative to a televised broadcast of the creation of a theatrical production. As the lines between reality and theater blur, the audience is treated to stunning technicolor vistas and stark black and white sets, all while the promise of an extraterrestrial visit hangs overhead.

Matt Zoller Seitz is the editor in chief of RogerEbert.com; the TV critic for New York magazine; the author of The Wes Anderson Collection, The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Oliver Stone Experience, and Mad Men Carousel; and the coauthor of The Sopranos Sessions. Wes Anderson is an Academy Award-winning writer and director of Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, “Asteroid City”, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Three More, and the upcoming The Phoenician Scheme.