Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.
Asteroid City: a fictional American desert town, circa 1955. Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets from across the country assemble for the annual Asteroid Day celebration but the scholarly competition is spectacularly upended by world-changing events. Equal parts comedy, drama, and romance. Directed by Wes Anderson and featuring an all-star cast including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Hanks.—DVD Movie Menus
Asteroid City, USA, September 1955. Every year, the dusty desert town in the middle of nowhere suddenly becomes an attention magnet for three thrilling days. After all, Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets from all over the country flock in to celebrate the annual Asteroid Day: the day the Arid Plains Meteorite hit the Earth. As a result, the brightest teen science whizzes and inventors come together for an academic showdown to celebrate the astronomical incident. However, a nasty surprise awaits the winners and their parents this year when a strange visitor crashes the party. Who is the intruder, and what secrets does he keep?—Nick Riganas
In a retro-futuristic version of the 1950s, a television host introduces a documentary about the creation and production of Asteroid City, a play by the famed playwright Conrad Earp. The play's events are depicted in widescreen and stylized color, while the television special is seen in black-and-white Academy ratio.
In the play, a youth astronomy convention is held in the fictional desert town of Asteroid City. War photojournalist Augie Steenbeck arrives early to the Junior Stargazer convention with Woodrow, his intellectual teenage son, and his three younger daughters. When their car breaks down, Augie phones his father-in-law, Stanley, asking for his help. Stanley, who dislikes his son-in-law, persuades him to tell the children about their mother's recent death, which Augie had concealed. Augie and Woodrow meet Midge Campbell, a famous but world-weary actress, and her daughter Dinah, who, like Woodrow, will be honored at the convention. Augie and Midge, and Woodrow and Dinah, gradually fall in love throughout the play. The other convention participants arrive: five-star General Grif Gibson, astronomer Dr. Hickenlooper, three additional teenage honorees (Clifford, Shelly, and Ricky) and their parents (J.J., Sandy, and Roger), a busload of elementary-school children chaperoned by young teacher June Douglas, and a cowboy band led by singer Montana. A local motel provides everyone's accommodations.
Gibson welcomes the attendees at the Asteroid City crater where the teenagers are to receive awards for various inventions. A UFO suddenly appears above the crater; an alien emerges and steals the remnant of the meteorite that created the crater, which Augie manages to photograph. Gibson, with instructions from the president, places the town under military quarantine, and everyone is subjected to medical and psychiatric examinations. Meanwhile, a romance blossoms between Montana and June, who assure the students that the alien is likely peaceful. The Stargazer honorees use Dr. Hickenlooper's equipment to attempt to contact the alien. Tricking the guard watching the pay phone, Ricky calls his school newspaper to relay the quarantine details and cover-up to the outside world.
The Asteroid City events become national news. A furious Gibson is about to be forced to end the quarantine when the UFO reappears, dropping the meteorite back into its former position; the General sees new markings on it and deduces that it has been "inventoried." Gibson then reinstates the quarantine; the children, scientists, and parents revolt, using the honorees' inventions to overpower the military. In the play's epilogue, Augie and his family are the last to leave Asteroid City after Gibson officially lifts the quarantine. Woodrow reveals he has won the fellowship funding, and Midge leaves Augie her mailing address. Augie and his family quietly drive away.
Throughout the film, the play's creation is interspersed with the play itself in the television documentary. Some time after Conrad Earp started writing, he meets with actor Jones Hall, who performs an audition in Earp's home and is immediately cast. During the same interaction, Earp and Hall kiss, establishing their relationship as lovers. Earp writes the play with help from a local acting school and recruits most cast members from it, including Mercedes Ford, a temperamental yet talented actress who plays Midge.
During the recorded performance of the play, Hall, who plays Augie, confronts the play's director Schubert Green, saying he "still doesn't understand the play", and asks Green if he is "doing him right". Green tells Hall to keep playing Augie the same way despite being uncertain, and that he is doing him right. After that interaction, while taking a smoke break on a balcony, Hall runs into the actress who was cast to play Augie's wife before her only scene was cut. She recites the deleted scene's text to him, and he appears to gain new insight from it.
Six months into the play's run, Conrad Earp dies in an automobile accident.
