Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s newest movie, just released its first trailer. From the little peek we got, it looked like it had all the lovely hallmarks of a Wes Anderson flick, plus aliens! That’s right, in the middle of the sleepy desert town that is Asteroid City, a giant Steven Spielberg-esque spaceship, glowing bright and green, landed in the movie just when the plot was beginning to develop. The way it was used appeared to be in the likeness of that charming Wes Anderson style that fans will find familiar. It seemed to levitate down on strings in the same way that the interior of Steve Zissou’s boat was cut in half.

The Asteroid City trailer was a delightful little snapshot of everything that’s sure to come on our next journey into the mind of Wes Anderson. Of course, there were all the usual sights of the auteur: picturesque 2-dimensional landscapes, ironic snippets of Americana, and sometimes cheesy (in a good way) special effects. But this time, Anderson is tackling the story of everything that surrounds the mythos of American aliens. Set in a tiny town out West, the people of Asteroid City worship a fallen meteorite with their scientific fanaticism. Once Jason Schwartzman gets stuck out there with his kids, weirdness, and romance ensues.

Asteroid City Trailer Breakdown

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The Asteroid City trailer starts by wheeling the family station wagon into a lone mechanic in the desert. Schwartzman’s character uses a single telephone booth outside the local diner to call his disgruntled father-in-law, played by Tom Hanks. The situation quickly becomes that he will come to pick up his three little granddaughters while Schwartzman and his son stay behind to wait for the car to be repaired. Then we get the big title screen reading “Asteroid City” while a shot taken over a train looks slightly reminiscent of The Darjeeling Limited.

Related: Ranking the Casts of Every Wes Anderson Movie

After that, a distant Jeffrey Wright stands behind a podium addressing “junior stargazers and space cadets” as he explains that this was the day, 3000 years ago, when this meteorite landed in this small Western town. Here’s where we get our first look at Wes Anderson’s flavor of Sci-Fi. A child almost flies away in a rudimentary jetpack while his father holds him down with a rope like it was a science fair. Then a kid zaps a plate out of the air with some kind of improvised laser.

Right as a nuclear bomb goes off in the distance, Scarlett Johansson gets out of her car. She recognizes Schwartzman’s character as Mitch Campbell, though we aren’t told who that is. Johansson’s character, it’s explained, is some movie star who’s often seen with huge Breakfast at Tiffany’s sunglasses and a drink in her hand.

Wes Anderson Sci-Fi

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Towards the middle of the trailer, we notice that Schwartzman’s son is a little smarter than the average Asteroid City resident. He begins questioning what certain readings mean inside a radar station, but the operator admits she doesn’t know. The teacher at the school goes on to say how some of their knowledge of space is still limited, but ‘Billy’ proudly announces, “’cept now there’s a alien.” And we see a large green-glowing glass structure lower itself over the Asteroid City crater. Wes Anderson immediately follows it up with the traditional government invasion when all the scientists in protective suits come to probe the town and seal everyone inside. Now the dad and his son can’t escape.

When Schwartzman starts talking to Scarlett Johansson again, he tells her that “the alien,” assuming one landed that we didn’t see, looked at them like they were doomed. And Johansson replies, “Maybe we are.” Now floods in all those deeper questions that pair so well with the silliness of Wes Anderson movies. Schwartzman’s son hopefully expresses that the world will never be the same, as the government scientists put plastic tubes into the diner and the adults wonder when they can leave town.

Related: Wes Anderson Movies Ranked From Flop to Highest Grossing

Everyone’s mind is open, literally and metaphorically. A psychological testing booth shows images to a girl scout who repeats over and over that she sees an alien doing jumping jacks or in a top hat or some other weird position. The son stands in an observatory, staring out into space now, believing there might be a meaning to life somewhere in the universe. At the same time, his father confesses to Scarlett Johansson’s character that his wife died three weeks ago. Then to add the cherry on top, the father admits to his children that their mother’s in heaven. Which doesn’t exist for him, but they are Episcopalian, he explains.

This mixture of hope, desperation, longing, and comedy makes Wes Anderson so pure. Suddenly the movie becomes about faith and the ability to believe, perhaps not just in aliens but in each other as well. Wes Anderson shows us in this trailer how his first Sci-Fi film might remain as plain and full as any other film from our beloved auteur.