If we peel back all of the layers of Asteroid City we discover the paradox of the director – specifically, how one can truthfully portray the chaos of the world while still working within film, a medium that itself calls for tight control and planning at every step.

Jenna and Veronica are talking movies that feature existential terror, relationship drama and doubles – featuring Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool (2023), Riley Stearns's Dual (2022) and Charlie McDowell's The One I Love (2014).

Stories that pit man against nature are classic and universal. They remind us how far we’ve come and yet how easily it can all be taken away. The films Arctic, Sorcerer and Embrace of the Serpent each touch upon different existential horrors one can encounter when exposed to the elements.

“All day I face the barren waste / Without the taste of water, cool water
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry / And souls that cry for water, cool, clear, water.”

Alex Garland's Annihilation is engaging and creepy, yet a little more on the horror-concept side than truly enlightening sci-fi to me. TL;DR I came for Stalker but I got reverse Solaris. 

All earth was but one thought — and that was death
Immediate and inglorious