Story
Set in 1955, ‘Asteroid City’ is a play being written by Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), which is simultaneously being played out on the screen as a movie. The story involves a recently bereaved father and war photo-journalist, Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), taking his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) to a convention of junior astronomers and space cadets, together with his 3 younger sisters. The convention is located at a military research establishment in the middle of a desert at the site of an asteroid impact. It is also the site of nuclear bomb testing. At the convention, Augie meets Midge (Scarlett Johansson) and her daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards). Several other participants arrive, including a busload of primary school students and their young teacher June (Maya Hawke), and a cowboy band led by singer Montana (Rupert Friend), and there they meet army general Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright) and astronomer Dr Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton).
The story goes that while the participants are star gazing, an alien appears in a spaceship and steals the asteroid held in a place of honour. The President orders the whole area to be quarantined and no-one is allowed to leave. They are all given psychiatric evaluations and told not to speak of what they’ve seen. Augie, however, snapped a photo of the alien and Woodrow is determined to let the rest of the world know what they’ve seen. A rebellion occurs, with the detainees overpowering the military with their weapons of invention.
The story is interwoven with the writing of the play and the altercations between writer and the cast. Augie and Midge are attracted to each other, as are Woodrow and Dinah.
Themes
Science fiction; romance; fables and mythology; playwriting
Violence
Asteroid City has some violence. For example:
- Atomic bombs are seen exploding in the background.
- A man chases after a boy and wrestles him to the ground.
- Midge is in a bathtub with an empty bottle of pills on the ground, shown as an attempted suicide. Augie gets angry and smashes a light.
- Augie burns his hand on a stove.
- Soldiers aim guns at the people who retaliate with their invented machines. Chaos erupts as machines go off and people run all over the place.
Sexual references
Asteroid City has some sexual references. For example:
- Augie takes off his trousers and embraces Conrad.
- Midge tells Augie that Dinah saw them in the bedroom. Bare legs are shown on the bed.
- Several couples kiss briefly.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Asteroid City has some substance use. For example:
- Drinking at several events, at home, during the play etc.
- Augie constantly smokes a pipe.
- Several characters smoke cigarettes.
Nudity and sexual activity
Asteroid City has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Midge is talking to Augie through a window, wrapped in a towel. She drops the towel and is briefly seen completely naked.
Product placement
Asteroid City has some product placement. For example, Pontiac, Chanel perfume and Greyhound bus.
Coarse language
Asteroid City has some coarse language and insults. For example, ‘bitch’, ‘what the hell’, ‘old food’ and ‘snob’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Asteroid City is a comedic, science-fiction drama, set in multiple layers, with an excellent cast. It makes fun of the mythology of aliens present at nuclear bomb testing sites. The movie shows the writing of the play in black and white, while the movie is in bright colour, thus distinguishing between the two. Nonetheless, it is likely to be very confusing for younger children. It also alludes to suicide and has brief nudity. This makes the movie unsuitable for children under 14 and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 14-15.
The main messages from Asteroid City are to not take life too seriously, and that what is seen on the screen is far from reality.
Values in Asteroid City that you could reinforce with your children include celebrating young peoples’ intelligence and creativity.
Asteroid City could also give you the chance to talk with your children about attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences. For example, jumping off roofs is not a good idea!