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movie review - Asteroid City

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

This is a sci-fi flick set in the 1960's. It's directed by a fellow with a certain bent for style and tone, so you know what you're in for from the outset. And this conforms to expectation in that regard: it's got a certain suspended menace just beneath the surface and a strong set of characters dealing with a strange situation indeed. It features young people actually played by young actors, famous people played by famous actors, and even small roles are filled by people who are or were household names. The dialog is typically peculiar, but good. The story involves an actual alien landing and rather a lot of very intelligent people, and one rather brave young person who refuses to be cowed.

I was happily surprised to find this on Netflix, which has otherwise been going through a bit of a dry spell. I'd never heard of this flick before we sat down to see it, but I'm always interested in the work by this director because he made one of my favorite films.

Recommended.