Clare Dougherty

I don’t know what is wrong with Google audiences, but Asteroid City is spectacular, my favorite movie, and it by no stretch of logic deserves THIS many one-star reviews. The humor, visuals, dialogue, story direction— everything is PEAK. And don’t get me started on the acting! People apparently have no respect for deadpan acting even when it benefits both the comedic moments and the themes of being unable to process or externalize grief. I’ve found that many one-star reviewers stopped watching when they were frustrated by the lack of a coherent plot. Asteroid City has two stories, one about the characters that takes up most of the run time, and one about the fictional actors who play the characters. The actors’ narrative revolves around their confusion with the story and characters they play. If you stick it out, you’ll at least get this much of an explanation. And just because you don’t fully understand it on your first watch doesn’t mean that it is not a good story. It made an impact on me even though I didn’t understand some plot points until my second viewing. It’s one of the few movies I can watch over and over again and keep finding new things to love about it. It’s brilliant. It’s whimsical, funny, heartfelt, pleasantly bewildering, and definitely worth a watch.