Movie Number 24 of 2025
The Movie: The Phoenician Scheme
The Cinema: The Rivoli, Camberwell
Stars: 3.5
Wes Anderson. Love him or hate him, I reckon your view on this wacky writer and director is going to skew how you feel about this film.
If I were to name his top three films for me they would be The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tannenbaums and The French Dispatch. (And I can't comment on The Darjeeling Limited, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou or Isle of Dogs).
You know what you're going to get with a Wes Anderson film. Fantastic sets and costumes - the rest is bonkers.
And this is what you get with The Phoenician Scheme.
According to IMDB.com, the plot reads as "Wealthy businessman Zsa-Zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins."
That's all you need to know.
The film is bonkers. Beautiful to look at, but utterly bonkers. It has all of the hallmarks of a Wes Anderson film. Stylised sets, over the top, but not to nasty violence, a convoluted plot and a stable of actors who pop up in most of his films.
I enjoyed Benicio Del Toro in the main role of Zsa Zsa. He's dry enough to pull off the character. His daughter, Leisl, is played by Mia Threapleton, in her first major role. She's the daughter of Kate Winslet, but she does a great job as Zsa Zsa's trainee nun. Michael Cera is in most scenes as Bjorn, Zsa Zsa's kids' tutor.
The rest of the cast, Bill Murray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rupert Friend, Scarlett Johanson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Hope Davis and various others, provide some quirky cameos.
But this film doesn't reach the heights of some of his other films. It's a case of style before substance. The plot is so far out there it becomes a bit annoying, and you don't really get what's going on for quite a while.
For me, I enjoyed this, but it's not his best work when it comes to the story. The sets, costumes and photography are incredible. Some of the writing is very good, and I made a number of spit takes, but the plot is lagging.
This one is probably best left for the diehard Wes Anderson fans.
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