The Phoenician Scheme<\/em> begins with a burst of violence that initially feels out of character for a Wes Anderson film, but it\u2019s done in such a cartoonish way that the gore fits in his wonderfully absurd universe. It\u2019s 1950 in the High Balkan Flatlands, and the fictional setting has the vague European air of an unnamed \u2014 or nonexistent \u2014 country, contrasting with the dry American atmosphere of Asteroid City<\/em><\/a> and heady Gallic fumes of The French Dispatch<\/em><\/a>. One of the richest men in Europe, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), has just survived his sixth plane crash, though not everyone on board is so lucky. As Korda has amassed all that wealth, he has amassed more than a few enemies as well, pointing toward an assassination attempt rather than an aviation accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In examining his life, he realizes that he doesn\u2019t want to leave his riches to his eight mischievous sons, but instead to his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton). Her training as a nun \u2014 and general moral character \u2014 has created a rift between the novitiate and her father, whose business practices could be considered underhanded at best and reprehensible at worst. As he attempts to reconnect with her, he brings Liesl along as he works to secure financing from a variety of sources for an ambitious land development, the titular Phoenician Scheme. The word \u201cscheme\u201d is used in the British sense, describing a plan, but given Korda\u2019s dubious character, it implies his unscrupulous intentions too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those potential backers fill out the sprawling ensemble we\u2019ve come to expect from Anderson\u2019s work, with appearances from Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, and Scarlett Johansson as Korda visits each of their characters in turn to reach his monetary goal. Meanwhile, Michael Cera gets the most screen time after the two leads. While he\u2019s not generally known for his range, he gets to stretch a bit here with an accent as the awkward Norwegian tutor who accompanies Korda and Liesl in their efforts to get money. Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Rupert Friend, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Richard Ayodade also show up, but the focus remains on Del Toro\u2019s Korda and Threapleton\u2019s Liesl, as they both evolve from bad dad and nun-in-training to somewhere in the middle of their polar opposites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Amidst the father-daughter relationship, assassination attempts, and business chatter, there are running jokes about hand grenades and hard liquor, and the Anderson-scripted dialogue is delivered dry as a bone and fast as a sprint. It\u2019s goofy and silly in marvelous ways, leaving the audience a bit dizzy and without much to cling to. The Phoenician Scheme <\/em>is a whiz-bang wonder, and while it\u2019s very much mid-tier Anderson, it\u2019s still Anderson. The care he puts into every frame makes it a joy to watch, if you care about shot composition and mise en sc\u00e8ne. Non-fans will remain baffled as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, for those who have fallen for him as a filmmaker, his latest has plenty of familiar charms to keep you beguiled, with enough differentiators to keep you interested \u2014 at least while it\u2019s on acreen. All that breeziness means it threatens to blow away with the slightest gust of wind. The Phoenician Scheme<\/em> is ultimately about what we leave behind, but the movie itself leaves the audience with less of an impression than most of Anderson\u2019s work to date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The Phoenician Scheme” is out this weekend in limited release.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Phoenician-Scheme2-1024x576.webp\")
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