Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’ Trailer Is Space-Race Perfection

Wes Anderson is leaning toward sci-fi in his upcoming summer film, Asteroid City—which takes place in the desert and features a pastel washed space race aesthetic, laser beams, and even a possible invasion from above. The film’s first trailer, released Monday, teases all of Anderson’s hallmarks, from its meticulously romantic production to the quiet longing hiding underneath it.

Asteroid City takes place in the 1950s, in a tiny desert town off the freeway where Jason Schwartzman and his kids find themselves stranded, after their car literally explodes. (Jake Ryan, who previously collaborated with Anderson on Moonrise Kingdom and Isle of Dogs, plays Schwartzman’s son.) Schwartzman must call his father-in-law—played by Anderson newcomer Tom Hanks—for help. The sun-bathed trailer unfolds like a series of mid century vacation posters, even as the town endures a paranormal event that lands them in quarantine.

Beyond Hanks, Schwartzman, and Ryan, stand-outs in the trailer include Scarlett Johansson, who plays a languishing actress; Jeffrey Wright, who informs us that a meteor struck the city in September 23, 3,007 B.C., an event commemorated on “Asteroid Day;” and Maya Hawke, who appears as a schoolteacher.

Read more at The Daily Beast.