Wes Anderson, the beloved director of films such as “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” has returned to cinemas with his newest film “The Phoenician Scheme” released in theaters on May 30. The movie follows the adventures of morally corrupt business mogul Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and his pious daughter, Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as they attempt to gather funds for a lucrative business venture.
From the first frame, it’s evident that “The Phoenician Scheme” is a different kind of Wes Anderson movie. A sustained discordant chord and a muted color palette of beiges and grays introduce the audience to Korda, who offers his estranged daughter Liesl control of the family business on a trial basis while he ties up some loose ends after an attempt on his life. He plans to orchestrate the construction of various infrastructure projects in the fictional Mediterranean country of Phoenicia, arranging to receive 5% of the profits for the next 150 years. But when the American government catches wind of Korda’s scheme, they manipulate the price of a building component essential to the construction projects, forcing Korda to ask his various investors to cover the cost.
The ensuing adventure is an espionage crime drama in a form only Anderson could achieve. “The Phoenician Scheme” features Anderson’s unique visual style of intricately designed diorama-esque sets, complementary deep focus cinematography and a carefully selected color palette. The movie also retains Anderson’s playful, absurdist and sometimes dark comedic sensibility, resulting in some of the funniest scenes of the year — one of which is a particularly hilarious game of H-O-R-S-E.
The plot is fashioned in very technical terms around Korda’s economic status and financial transactions. Although convoluted at times, the choice of language reflects Korda’s numbed preoccupation with wealth.
The tycoon’s obsession has gone so far that he has little to no emotional attachment to his family — his nine sons amusingly live in a dormitory across the street from his manor. Even reaching out to Liesl was initially a purely economic decision, simply a way to ensure the security of his wealth in the event of his death.
Beyond the superficiality of affluence, Anderson also uses this economic lens to illustrate the moral bankruptcy of neocolonialism.
Morality is a consistent thematic through line of “The Phoenician Scheme.” Liesl comes into conflict with Korda due to the incompatibility of her Christian values with his immoral lifestyle, and Korda has multiple visions of his judgement day in the afterlife. These biblical themes have a direct connection to the title of the film and neocolonialism. Though Phoenicia is actually a Greek term not used in the Bible, it was a collection of city-states that really existed in biblical times. Korda’s plan to develop, westernize and profit off of this biblical land is not only an indication of his capitalistic unholiness but could be read as an indictment of current affairs in a certain holy land.
As usual, Anderson has assembled an ensemble of recognizable actors to play the characters in the film, including the Norwegian tutor Bjørn Lund (Michael Cera), Korda’s business associates Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston) and Korda’s second cousin Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson). Cera is a welcome addition to the Anderson troupe. His meek and awkward persona feels at home among the filmmaker’s traditionally idiosyncratic cast of characters. His performance as Lund is hilariously peculiar, delivering everything one could hope for a Cera-Anderson pairing.
But unlike the director’s recent films, “The Phoenician Scheme” uses the ensemble more sparingly, honing in on Korda, Liesl and Lund.
The emotional core of the movie lies in the relationship between Korda and Liesl, whose reconnection is genuinely touching and profound. Without getting into spoiler territory, the two change each other in unexpected ways. But as complex and thoughtful as their relationship is rendered, the artificiality of Anderson’s style somewhat obscures the emotionality. With every prop so perfectly crafted and each character portrayed like a caricature, Korda and Liesl begin to feel more like dolls in Anderson’s cinematic dollhouse than real people.
Anderson has increasingly been criticized for this self-reflexive quality of his films. His recent work in particular has an almost palpable awareness of its own Andersonian qualities, and “The Phoenician Scheme” is certainly no different. But the auteur has proved time and again that ideas matter most in his films. “The Phoenician Scheme” may express them obliquely, but there is a wealth of interesting ideas being explored.
The days of a relatively straightforward, character-driven Anderson film — like “Rushmore” or “The Royal Tenenbaums” — may be long gone, but the director is in a new era that deserves to be judged on its own merits. Anderson has moved on, and it’s time audiences do too.
Drew Askeland is a 2024-2025 Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor. He can be reached at daskelan@uci.edu.
Edited by Jaheem Conley.