REVIEW: “The Phoenician Scheme” (2025)

(Courtesy IMP Awards) 

WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on June 30, 2025. 

It’s the 1950s. After surviving a plane crash and assassination attempt in a cornfield, wealthy business tycoon—and a figure of international controversy—Zsa Zsa Korda plans his biggest project to date. He also intends to pass his inheritance and estate on to his estranged daughter, Liesl, a practicing nun. That’s the setup for Wes Anderson’s episodic and interesting arthouse caper, The Phoenician Scheme.

The auteur’s quirks and style are still in tact, from slow-motion action to rapid-fire dialogue, an ensemble cast that includes some Anderson regulars, theatrical blocking, staging, and directing (partly influenced by Stanley Kubrick, and thoroughly shot in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio); excerpts of classical music excerpts; stylized credits; and (in this case) shoeboxes with detailed instructions or inscriptions. But what makes The Phoenician Scheme stand out among, quite possibly, Anderson’s best work is its character driven plot as much as (if not more than) its intricate and detailed set pieces. The former is not upstaged by the latter. Like Anderson’s direction and writing (shared with frequent collaborator Roman Coppola), the score by composer Alexandre Desplat is a brilliant and unique balance of farcical comedy and human drama. It’s also suspenseful, sly, and witty. 

While there are moments for the cast and their respective characters to shine (including an amusing basketball settlement in an underground trans-tunnel with Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston), Del Toro is fantastic in his leading role, with more of his complex backstory and motivations revealed throughout, before he has an apparent awakening thanks to his daughter’s presence. (The Puerto Rican actor seems to be making a major comeback this year, and will next appear in Paul Thomas Anderson’s period thriller One Battle After Another.) Mia Theapleton is equally incredible and engaging as Liesl, while Michael Cera nearly steals the show as a French-accented tutor. (His performance may surprise you.) 

Anderson’s recurring theme of dysfunctional family relationships is at play here, concerning Korda’s apparent neglect of his other adopted children, his tendency to “fiddle” with documents in his dealings and other matters, and his apparent lack of faith and/or familial love. The number of times that others have tried to do away with him have played into this as well. Zsa Zsa, at first, believes he doesn’t need his “human rights,” while later pondering if God is more interested in his money or his soul. Liesl, for her part, responds that “the sincerity of your devotion” is what matters most, even though she also admits, “I always expected the worst from you.” 

Moments of shocking violence and comical, sometimes intense, action and rough-housing give this film sharp edges. Ditto a couple of implied suicides, references and images of hand grenades and revolutionaries, and some literary and art-related nudity. Black-and-white segments—which seem to take place in heaven, or at the pearly gates—present illusions of life after death, and reflect the film’s compelling if vague themes of forgiveness, reconciliation, surrendering worldly possessions and wealth, and seeing the value in good works. It almost (maybe) puts a new, more grounded, spin on that old Monty Python bit, ”I’m not dead yet.” 

(Courtesy Threads) 

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