Asteroid City is the newest film by master of symmetry Wes Anderson, an ensemble piece set in a weird retro-futuristic version of the 1950s where brainy Junior Stargazers receive prize ribbons from the military for the creation of such science projects as propulsion packs and molecular incubators. It is also the name of the small Nevada town where the film is set, a bustling metropolis of eighty-seven residents that includes a diner, body shop, rentable cabins, observatory, outdoor shower facilities, vending machines (some of which dispense land deeds for as little as ten dollars), and an abandoned overpass project, all situated around a crater that was formed some 5000 years ago. It is also the name of the in-universe stage play penned by famed playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), who is shown laboring over his creation as the story unfolds in grainy black-and-white sequences that employ a vintage 1.37:1 aspect ratio. This eponymous play has been produced for a live television broadcast, hosted by a somewhat Rod Serling-esque Bryan Cranston, who frequently comments on both the creation of the play as well as the events of the play itself, at one point even wandering into the action before sheepishly retreating back to the wings.
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