This will not be for everyone. Fortunately for me, I managed my expectations based on the reviews I saw, which made me enjoy this for what it was. It’s not Anderson’s best, but he is not here for that. He is here to deliver one of his most divisive movies yet. Plus, I am always in for a divisive movie.

Divisive movies, for me, are greatly appreciated. I tend to enjoy them more, because they give the opportunity for viewers to not only discuss it, but use word of mouth to help promote the movie. With Anderson’s signature style, I believe it was about time for him to switch it up. My best tip going into this? Go with the flow. This also happens to be the main theme of the movie.

While this film was in my most recent top 10 most anticipated movies of 2023, I was also able to go into this with minimal expectations, as mentioned. I love Anderson’s filmography, but it hasn’t always been perfect from my perspective. The best thing I have learned about Anderson’s work is that he is the one in control and we, the audience, are here to see what he has to unfold.

I have always found Anderson’s style and commitment to the production to be amazing rather I believe his film was good or not. Here, the production quality is a 10/10. The way the camera moves allows the eyes to witness the entirety of each shot. I found myself at times catching where my eyes were looking everywhere in certain shots and admiring the way that Anderson understands how to block his characters and utilize his crew to achieve the best possible shot.

In a nutshell, I’d say that this story is more so about the perspective of Wes Anderson and allows the audience to understand him better. It is a crisis of identity and where he goes from here. He is known to direct ensemble casts. In this, we get to see the chaotic mind of his as he manages multiple cast members.

Enough of Anderson though. The cast here, for the most part, is terrific. No one really outshines any other person. The standouts in particular have to be Tom Hanks, Maya Hawke, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carrell, Jeffrey Wright, and Bryan Cranston. Not to throw shade to anyone else, but I did found the writing for these characters rather strong amongst the huge ensemble that this film has to offer.

As for any negatives, I found the minimal runtime dedicated certain characters rather pointless. Now, I know people may already see the plot to be pointless, but I’d argue against that. The plot is rather something seen through the eyes of the screenwriter. It was never meant to be cohesive. The point here is that we are just here for the ride. Excluding the runtime, the film does feel short and spends ample amount of time on characters that really could have been tossed out. Particularly, the plot with the teenagers seemed redundant and specific side characters in the play had nothing to do with anything.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Once again, this will not be for everyone, but don’t get into this thinking that this is for you. To me, this is the kind of movie that I feel like I needed to make sense of things. The point is that we are not meant to have everything figured out. In the end, it’s best to be along with the journey and experience life as it is rather than not at all.

VERDICT: 4/5 (Really Good)