Wes Anderson’s 12th feature brings us back to a simpler time, when the antics of fabulously wealthy capitalists dominated the headlines, yet we never had to read their social media musings or worry that their ideological conversions would derail our lives. Scripted by Anderson from a story cowritten with Roman Coppola, The Phoenician Scheme is playing as of press time at the Essex Cinemas, Majestic 10 in Williston and Savoy Theater in Montpelier.
The deal
It’s 1950, and someone is trying to kill wealthy wheeler and dealer Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro). A sabotage of his private plane catapults him into the afterlife, where he finds himself in a heavenly court.
Zsa-zsa quickly returns to the land of the living, but his near-death experience convinces him to make a succession plan. Summoning his only daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), from the convent where she’s spent most of her life, he offers to train her to take over his empire “on a trial basis.”
Liesl, who’s preparing to take the veil, wants none of such worldly concerns. She’s merely bemused when her dad details his pending Phoenician Scheme, an infrastructure project in the Middle East, and disgusted to learn the plan relies on slave labor.
Still, Zsa-zsa persuades Liesl to accompany him on a journey to bilk and strong-arm potential investors. She hopes to shed light on the fate of her mother — whom her father swears he didn’t murder, despite rumors to the contrary. Meanwhile, a secret consortium of world governments will stop at nothing to prevent Korda from realizing his plans.
Will you like it?
Continuing a recent pattern for Anderson, The Phoenician Scheme was shot entirely on soundstages. The filmmaker’s previous effort, Asteroid City, consisted of two interlocking stories, one closer to reality than the other. This one, by contrast, never ventures outside its own quirky universe, which combines the vocal rhythms of screwball comedy with the madcap surrealism of classic animation. Whether you like it or not will depend on your tolerance for constructions that are fascinatingly intricate yet a little airless.
The film opens on the company jet, as Zsa-zsa’s assistant perishes in a mishap that leaves the lower half of him still buckled into his seat. Instead of gore, we get the idea of gore: a theatrical effect that would have Max Fischer, the high school dramaturge of Anderson’s Rushmore, nodding in appreciation. Unperturbed, Zsa-zsa swiftly masters the situation, ejecting his uncooperative pilot from the cockpit and landing the plane on his own.
Del Toro portrays the industrialist as an affectionate cartoon version of midcentury masculinity. When his life is in danger, Zsa-zsa is stoic to the point of sociopathy. When money is on the line, however, he grows excitable and prone to brawling like a small boy. Asked about his citizenship, he replies loftily that nationalities are for people who “need human rights.” In a running gag, he offers hand grenades like party favors. We learn he was raised with a simple credo: “If someone gets in your way, flatten them.”
But Liesl refuses to be flattened. Her angelic scowl, serene and judgmental at once, presents an immovable object to her father’s irresistible force. Threapleton, who is Kate Winslet’s daughter, demonstrates a mature presence and comic timing that light up the screen.
Father-daughter verbal sparring forms the movie’s backbone. But the secret ingredient that makes these scenes sing is Michael Cera as Bjorn, the Norwegian tutor of Zsa-zsa’s eight sons, who completes the tycoon’s dysfunctional retinue. Babbling obliviously about entomology in an accent packed with unnecessary trills, he’s far funnier than he has any right to be.
All this makes for solid entertainment, especially when you add Bill Murray playing God, Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston shooting hoops, and Benedict Cumberbatch wearing a godawful wig and shamelessly chewing the scenery.
And yet … about halfway through The Phoenician Scheme, I found it increasingly difficult to focus on the rapid-fire dialogue, because the movie ambles from set piece to set piece without much at stake. Zsa-zsa is so Teflon-immortal, it’s hard to worry about his survival. Liesl’s concern for her mother surfaces only fitfully.
For all the black-and-white vignettes set in purgatory, the movie doesn’t trouble itself with much soul-searching. We know paternal love will eventually soften Zsa-zsa’s heart, but instead of a confrontation with the darker aspects of his character, we get more slapstick and snap decisions. This monster of selfishness somehow manages to eat his cake and have most of it, too.
Which is fine, if you’re in the mood for a sparkling comedy about a rapacious tycoon becoming less rapacious. If, however, you’re feeling anti-tycoon at the moment, you may appreciate the stylistic brilliance of The Phoenician Scheme while finding it a bit of a con.
If you like this, try…
Asteroid City (2023; Kanopy, Peacock, rentable): Also set at midcentury, Anderson’s previous feature boasts equally intricate production design but a more complex structure, involving a drama within a drama. For me, the emotions in this one landed more effectively.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024; Netflix): Anderson adapted four fantastical Roald Dahl stories into this anthology, with a cast that includes Cumberbatch and Ralph Fiennes.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994; Kanopy, PLEX, Roku Channel, Sling, Tubi, rentable): The screwball rhythms of the dialogue in The Phoenician Scheme reminded me of this ultra-stylized early Coen brothers comedy about business shenanigans.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2025.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
