“The Phoenician Scheme” (2025): An Intricate Curiosity
“Help yourself to a hand grenade.”
Since his debut feature in 1996 with “Bottle Rocket,” director Wes Anderson has been one of America’s preeminent auteur filmmakers. From 2001’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” to 2014’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel, ” his singular style has enraptured audiences worldwide. Now, fresh off his recent Oscar win for Best Live Action Short Film (2023’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”), he is back with one of his most idiosyncratic pictures yet: “The Phonecian Scheme.”
The plot follows the wealthy financier Zsa-Zsa Korda (played by Benicio del Toro, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 2000 film “Traffic”) and his attempt to pass on his business to his daughter, the nun Liesel (played by Mia Threapleton, the daughter of Kate Winslet). He makes his money by charging a set rate of 5% of all profits on his investments for 150 years. Korda has survived countless assassination attempts, and is an enemy of the United States government, who try to manipulate Korda’s markets to bankrupt him. Zsa-Zsa is unable to fully fund his investments, which he describes as “The Gap,” and proceeds to travel across greater Phoenicia to convince his financial backers to cover more of the gap for him.
The first of these include Prince Farouk (played by Riz Ahmed, star of 2019’s “Sound of Metal”), Leland (played by Tom Hanks, star of the 1994 Best Picture winner “Forrest Gump”) and Reagan (played by Bryan Cranston, star of the 2008-2013 AMC show “Breaking Bad”) where he challenges them to a humorous game of H-O-R-S-E.
The other investors include Marseille Bob (played by Matheiu Amalric, star of 2007’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), Korda’s cousin/fianceé Hilda (played by Scarlet Johansson, star of 2013’s “Her”), shipping magnate Marty (played by Jeffery Wright, star of 2023’s “American Fiction”) and Liesel’s Uncle Nubar (played by Benedict Cumberbatch, star of 2021’s “The Power of the Dog”). He also fights off a group of radical communist revolutionaries, seeking to redistribute stolen wealth to such things as building infrastructure in impoverished regions, who are led by a man named Sergio (played by Richard Ayoade, star of the 2006-2013 Channel 4 sitcom “The IT Crowd”).
The rest of the main cast is rounded out by Michael Cera (star of the 2010 film “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”), who is an absolute laugh riot as the Norwegian entomologist and tutor Bjørn. Cera is such a good fit for Anderson’s comedic sensibilities that it is a wonder why this is their only collaboration so far. Bjørn’s quirky mannerisms and his soft-spoken demeanor contrast well with del Toro and Threapleton’s more deadpan delivery. Whenever the next Wes Anderson film begins casting, I sincerely hope Cera will become a rotating player in his vast collection of actors.
Through the picture, Zsa-Zsa loses consciousness several times and experiences visions of the afterlife. He witnesses people such as Willem Dafoe (star of 2018’s “At Eternity’s Gate”) and F. Murray Abraham (star of the 1984 Best Picture Winner “Amadeus”) who take part in a courtroom setting, potentially over his soul. Later, he has a conversation with God (played by Bill Murray, star of 2003’s “Lost in Translation”) over the nature of slavery, who condemns Zsa-Zsa for not paying his workers. I suppose this makes the film Anderson’s most overtly religious so far, but it seems more like a framing device than anything else.
The production design and cinematography are as exacting and precise as always in Anderson’s films, making each frame a visual marvel to behold.
While I doubt that anyone not already interested in Anderson’s films will change their tune after watching this one, I still recommend the movie to anyone willing to experience an entertaining time at the theater. My final rating for “The Phonecian Scheme” is an amusing 9/10.
