Wes Anderson looks to the heavens. Mostly in the material sense: the story here concerns a gathering of Science Kids for a convention in the desert adjacent to the titular space rock, and it turns out they're not the only interested parties. But also, and perhaps more importantly, in the immaterial sense: the father of one of those kids has his wife's ashes in tow, and finds at the outset that the time has come to tell his kids that Mom is dead. And since she was Christian, maybe in heaven, but probably not — he doesn't believe in all that. She's dust in a Tupperware container, and he's a widowed war photographer who always gets his shot, and that's that. The kids, however, are more inclined to make meaning — as is Anderson. As with The Grand Budapest Hotel, the story here is nested: we begin with a television program about the making of the "play" we're seeing — though it's not an actual play, just a reasonable simulacrum, presented for illustrative purposes. It's worth asking why, and what's being illustrated — and worth paying attention to the seemingly bonkers scene in which the play's cast cries out, "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep." As ever, the mannered speech and meticulous framing lend a certain unreality to the proceedings — to say nothing of the brightly saturated image — but it's hardly style for style's sake. (2023) — Matthew Lickona
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