DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More, Asteroid City, The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs, The Grand Budapest Hotel

STARS
Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Rupert Friend, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch

The steady and sharp decline of Wes Anderson.

 

The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited are two of Anderson’s better earlier works among a few I have not seen. Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom, the two films following The Darjeeling Limited, elevated his status as someone to reliably bring the cinema world something of genuine quality and uniquely his own. Then, came Wes Anderson’s greatest film to date, the one that truly converted me into a ‘Wes Anderfan’. 2014s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Isle of Dogs, in 2018, remains his second-best work for me and is an excellent standalone animation feature. The French Dispatch was the first time I recall thinking there are just too many actors Wes has crammed into his film and his storytelling is suffering the consequences. Well, at least that was one of its key problems. 2023s Asteroid City has so many more and is convincingly his worst film. I know I am far from alone in this view, with Asteroid City having the lowest IMDB rating and Rotten Tomatoes audience score of all Anderson’s feature films! Now, in 2025, The Phoenician Scheme is the first Wes Anderson movie I was not eager to see or looking forward to since discovering his movies. Did the lowered hopes and expectations pay dividends? More importantly, does The Phoenician Scheme return Wes Anderson to the form we know he is more than capable of producing?

 

The central character in this new Wes Anderson film sounds very much like a famous late actress. Zsa-zsa Korda (performed by Benecio Del Toro) is an ultra-rich business tycoon who has racked up almost as many children and wives as he has amassed wealth. One of those is his sole daughter, Liesl (played by Kate Winslet’s real-life daughter, Mia Threapleton!). She has aspirations to be a nun. Zsa-zsa is having nun, sorry none, of that. You see, he has hand-picked Liesl to be the sole heir of his estate, which could transpire fast given the high volume of unsuccessful assassination attempts on his life thus far! Before that seemingly inevitable fate ensues, Liesl, along with a tutor turned assistant, Professor Bjorn (Michael Cera) is to accompany Zsa-zsa on his travels visiting a number of stakeholders whom he needs to fill funding gaps for his next major project. On their tail, however, is a shadowy business group led by Excalibur (Rupert Friend).

 

Should you choose to approach The Phoenician Scheme, do so with an abundance of scepticism and you will be granted a few pleasant surprises! Thankfully, what is certain is that despite possessing many of the same problems as Asteroid City, The Phoenician Scheme is an improvement, not a further decline, over that film. Having said that, for Wes Anderfan’s such as myself, The Phoenician Scheme can be just as fun as it is frustrating. 

 

There are moments where Wes’ screenplay and visual work combined produce some of his most classic ones not seen since 2018s Isle of Dogs, but they are spasmodic. Revolving the action around a central character who has repeated attempts at taking his life is a source of fun to be had. There are times when the written material strikes just the right chord one typically expects from Wes (blood transfusion scene, ha!). Then, there are times, too many of them, where uneven comedic tones and choices make the film downright unpleasantly farcical. Its unevenness is one undeniable and inescapable problem. Another happen to be the dimensions on offer it does not seize. Knowing Zsa-zsa may exit stage left at any moment could and should have darkened the comedy, even produced a thrill or two, that it does not. It also misses an opportunity to mystify and derive more intrigue and fun from a sub-plot involving Liesl uncovering the culprit of her mother’s murder many years ago. I cannot help but think this movie has the Coen brothers of old written all over it! 

 

Another notable problem it shares with Asteroid City is its prioritisation of casting above all else. I am convinced that the forming of the story and its many characters that come and go are custom made to fit the sheer over-population of talent that signed on to be in the last 3 films from Wes Anderson. Fortunately, the story and its characters’ contributions do operate more fluidly here than in Asteroid City. Having said that, Wes makes a mess out of conveying business dealings with multiple associates in a coherent and clear enough manner. I am still wondering if The Phoenician Scheme just needed to be 20 minutes longer than it is at just 1 hour and 41 minutes. Would the extra time lend itself well to minor and supporting roles and make these parts count more than they do?

 

Interestingly, throughout the film, I felt like I noticed it is a little less visually quintessential Wes Anderson than I recall. After the film, I learn Robert D. Yeoman, Wes’ film photographer in every live-action feature film made by him, is not on board in The Phoenician Scheme. Hmm.

 

Who is on board though is a real positive! Mia Threapleton is a welcome fresh new face in a Wes Anderson feature whose reading of her character and comic execution is seriously impressive. Especially considering this is just her 5th feature film appearance. Michael Cera is also most pleasurable to watch as the awkward Professor who is trying his best to be a useful assistant.  

The Phoenician Scheme is showing in cinemas across Australia from May 29th, 2025.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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