What Guadagnino borrows from the original in plot is derived from the political context in which the original was created, and turns much of those narrative devices on its head by centering the story not just on the female experience, but what it means to create and, more importantly, recreate.

I believe the answer for our generation of artists is not a rejection of reason, but a rejection of artifice. I’ve attempted to adopt this in my artistic praxis by borrowing from the filmmaking philosophy of Dogme 95, whose focus on authenticity and the sanctity of location has led me to become deliberately obtuse in my approach.

There are moments where Megalopolis shows Coppola's breathless genius. There are other, many other, moments where we are instead forced to engage with Coppola's apparent inability to tie together a cohesive thread in his own philosophy. Trite, outdated observations are woven together alongside moments of timeless brilliance without an inch of irony or the burden of self-awareness.

It is the last week of August 2023, and I am 26, visiting Massachusetts from Texas to photograph the new “View Boston” observation deck at the top of the Prudential Building. I arrived early Saturday morning, two days before the shoot, to meet with my cousin, Hunter, at the Boston Commons.

While “Asteroid City" is as neurotic and detached as the rest of his oeuvre, it somehow redefines what a Wes Anderson film is and breathes a welcome new life into a filmography that didn’t necessarily need it. It is, resoundingly, his most “American” film to date and quite possibly the one with the most to say.