The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson, 2025)

 A review:

THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (2025) • Frame Rated

After the fragmented indulgence of The French Dispatch and the overwrought complexity of Asteroid City, The Phoenician Scheme emerges as a recalibration in Wes Anderson’s cinematic trajectory. Echoing the refined balance of his most acclaimed works, his latest endeavour deftly marries his meticulously crafted visual grammar and idiosyncratic comedic rhythms with a more grounded and straightforward narrative. However, beneath its ornate veneer lies a quietly devastating meditation on the fragile intricacies of human connection. Although the emotional core may be obscured by the auteur’s ornate pageantry and curated whimsy, it pulses with sincerity, suggesting the emotional bonds we forge are the richest.


Taking place against an early-1950s Middle Eastern backdrop, “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro) may be one of the wealthiest aristocrats in Europe. He’ss a ruthless industrialist who aims to build an ambitious multipurpose venture across an underutilised area of the Modern Greater Independent Phoenicia. When his various destabilising antics anger a group of controversial figures, a consortium of treacherous tycoons, government bureaucrats, and perpetual assassins attempts to assassinate him. However, after surviving his sixth assassination attempt and experiencing a moment of existential reflection, Korda halts his gargantuan infrastructure project in the Middle East. Knowing threats to his life are imminent and his large fortune is in peril, the ruthless entrepreneur begins to consider his legacy and decides to appoint a successor. Disregarding his nine untrustworthy sons with three wives, Korda decides his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) should be the heir to his enterprise. Despite her suspicions of her estranged father, the pair travel across Phoenicia to persuade a number of benefactors to help finance the ambitious venture while reconciling their dynamic.

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