‘Asteroid City’ Ending Explained: What Does “You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep” Mean? (2024)

After just three weeks in theaters, Asteroid City is now available to buy and rent on digital platforms, which might not be great news for people who are seeking to preserve the sanctity of the movie-going experience, but is great news for anyone hoping to watch the new Wes Anderson movie from the comfort of their house. Though it is still playing in theaters, you can now buy a digital copy of Asteroid City on platforms like Amazon Prime for $24.99, or you can rent the film for a 48-hour viewing period for $19.99.

No matter how you feel about it, there are certainly going to be a lot more people watching Asteroid City this week. It’s Anderson’s most star-studded film to date—Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, just to name a few—and comes with all the quirks, deadpan dialogue, pastel colors, and centered shots that audiences have come to expect from an Anderson flick.

But, though the film is only an hour and 45 minutes, Asteroid City is also one of Anderson’s most complicated films to date. If you got lost in the many different meta storylines, don’t worry: Decider is here to help. Read on for a breakdown of Asteroid City explained, including an analysis of that bizarre “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep,” chant in the Asteroid City ending.

Asteroid City plot summary:

There are three different storylines in Asteroid City. First, there is Bryan Cranston, a 1950s-esque TV host who introduces audiences to a live, televised production of the play-within-the-movie: Asteroid City.

Second, there is the behind-the-scenes story of how the play came to be. This includes the playwright, Conrad Earp (played by Edward Norton); the play’s director, Schubert Green (Adrien Brody); and the entire cast. The lead actor, Jones (Jason Schwartzman), has a romantic affair with Conrad the playwright.

Finally, there is the play itself, which makes up the majority of the film. Our protagonist is Augie Steenbeck (Schwartzman) a photographer who is taking his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) to the Junior Stargazer Convention, along with Woodrow’s three younger sisters. The convention is being held in Asteroid City, a small town in the desert where an asteroid once famously crash-landed, leaving a huge crater and a tiny space rock. Unfortunately, the Steenbeck family car breaks down upon arrival in the town.

Augie calls his father-in-law, Stanley (Tom Hanks), to come pick up the girls, and it’s revealed that Augie’s wife recently died, and he hasn’t yet told his kids. So Augie breaks the news to Woodrow and his children that their mother is dead. Now the family is stuck sorting through their feelings of grief in this strange town.

Luckily, there are plenty of interesting characters in the town to distract them. There’s Midge (Scarlett Johansson), a famous actress and a love interest for Augie. There’s Midge’s daughter, Dinah (Grace Edwards), another Junior Stargazer and a love interest for Woodrow. There’s General Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright), the military man and host of the convention, and Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton), a quirky scientist who mans the Asteroid City observatory. And there are all the other Junior Stargazers and their parents, too. Oh, and there’s the alien who descends from his spaceship, steals the Asteroid City meteor, and flies away.

Yes, it’s true: Halfway through the play, the town of Asteroid City witnesses an alien visit. (Augie even gets a photo.) The encounter triggers a town-wide military quarantine. The Junior Stargazers take it upon themselves to attempt to contact the alien, and one of the kids even leaks the story and photograph to his school newspaper. The alien encounter in Asteroid City becomes national news.

Just when the quarantine is about to end, the alien suddenly comes back and returns the meteor. General Grif Gibson attempts to reissue the quarantine, but the Junior Stargazers use their inventions to help the town overthrow the military. Chaos ensues. In the middle of this climatic, chaotic scene—which is all taking place within a play, don’t forget—the actor who plays Augie walks off the set, because, he says, he doesn’t understand the play.

Asteroid City ending explained:

The actor, whose name is Jones, barges in on Schubert, the play’s director, to ask if he is interpreting his character, Augie, correctly. Schubert assures Jones that he is playing Augie correctly. The fact that Jones feels his own heart breaking every night is a good thing, Schubert says.

“Do I just keep doing it?” Jones asks.

“Yes,” Schubert replies.

“Without knowing anything?” Jones presses.

“Yes,” Schubert says, again.

Jones insists he still doesn’t understand the play and feels there should be an answer to the meaning of life. Schubert tells him he should keep telling the story, even if he doesn’t understand it.

Still not satisfied, Jones steps out for air. He runs into the actress who was originally meant to play Augie’s dead wife, who he was going to speak to in a cut dream sequence. The actress talks Jones through the cut scene. Hearing Augie speak to his dead wife—in which she tells Augie that she’s not coming back, and gives him permission to move on, while still keeping a photo of her to preserve her memory—seems to give Jones a sense of closure for the heartbreak and grief he feels on Augie’s behalf.

We cut to Bryan Cranston, who reveals that six months into the run of Asteroid City, the playwright Conrad Earp died suddenly. If you’ll remember that Jones and Conrad were in a romantic relationship, you can now understand that not only was Jones taking on the grief of his character, Augie, he was also mourning the loss of his own love this entire time.

Jones returns to set just in time for the play’s epilogue. In it, Augie wakes up in Asteroid City to discover almost everyone, including Midge, has left to return home. At the daughters’ insistence, the entire Steenbeck family gathers to bury their mother’s ashes in the dirt next to the hotel. Then the family gets breakfast in the local cafe, where the waitress hands Augie a piece of paper. It’s Midge’s address to PO Box, which she left for Augie. The implication is that the Augie will continue his relationship with Midge, and be able to move on from his wife’s death. After one last look at the city—which really is an impressive set—the Steenbeck family climbs into their car and drives away. With that, the credits role, and the movie ends.

Asteroid City explained with analysis:

Asteroid City is a movie about processing grief. Both Augie and the actor playing him have lost someone important to them. The added layer of this play-within-a-play format gives Anderson a chance to insert some meta-commentary on how artists—like Anderson himself—may process loss by creating or consuming art about loss. Jones the feels frustrated because he expected that a play about grief would give him definitive answers for the reason for the extreme pain that comes with the grieving process.

Unfortunately, sometimes the is no concrete reason for the loss and pain. While stories about grief can help us feel less alone, they cannot magically take the pain away or provide us with a satisfying reason for our suffering. As Schubert tells his actor, even if he doesn’t understand it, he has to keep telling the story. He’s doing it right. Jones just has to keep going, like Augie does. And like Augie, Jones will eventually find happiness again.

What does “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep” in Asteroid City mean?

In one of the most bizarre scenes in the movie—just before we see the play’s epilogue, and just after we learn the playwright has died—the entire cast of the Asteroid City play is attending a meeting with their late playwright, Conrad Earp. Conrad explains that he would like to write a scene in the play in which all of the characters fall into a deep slumber filled with dreams, as a result of their shared experience with the alien. All of the actors immediately begin to demonstrate their ability to “sleep on command.”

However, then Jones suddenly opens his eyes, stands up, and exclaims, “You can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep.” Everyone in the company starts saying it, and soon the entire cast and crew are chanting that phrase. It’s almost creepy, especially when the creepy alien suit walks out holding its stolen meteor.

So what does it mean? Well, it’s open to interpretation, but my read on this phrase is Anderson giving the audience—especially those who may be struggling with grief—permission to lose themselves in escapist stories in order to process their emotions. Art, plays, movies, TV shows, and books may not provide all the answers, as Jones was frustrated to learn. But they are still away to help you process, learn, and grow.

While you sleep, you may dream, where you learn things about yourself, and then wake up refreshed, with a new outlook on life. Consuming art can be similar: You turn off your brain to a degree, and allow a story to guide you. When you “wake up,” you may not notice an immediate change, but if done correctly, the story will have changed you in some manner, hopefully for the better.

Of course, maybe I’m way off base here. That’s the beauty of stories—we all interpret them in our own way.