I’ll be honest when I say that I wasn’t the biggest lover of Asteroid City or The French Dispatch. And as a long-time fan of Wes Anderson, I felt like maybe he had already hit his peak and wasn’t just in a slump. But, I couldn’t be more wrong after watching The Phoenician Scheme. Part caper, part spy movie, and part family drama, The Phoenician Scheme feels both like a return to form for Anderson while also feeling like an evolution for the auteur as his style changes bit by bit.
The film follows a shrewd and cutthroat businessman named Zsa-Zsa Korda, played by Benicio del Toro, who has decided (despite having nine sons) to name his daughter, Liesel, played by Mia Threapleton, his sole heir. The only problem is that Liesel is a novitiate ready to take her vows to become a nun. Estranged from her eccentric and morally dubious father, Liesel resists the idea of becoming his heir. However, when Korda’s business is threatened, potentially leading to the ruin of his enterprise, Korda takes Liesel along to save his business, and the two end up bonding in the process. Surprisingly heartfelt and wholesome, there’s far less melancholy in The Phoenician Scheme than Anderson’s typical fare, and it instead leans into the quirkiness of Anderson’s worlds while also highlighting the formation of a close bond between a father and his daughter.
‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Brings in New Collaborators for Wes Anderson, and That’s a Good Thing

It’s not unusual for Wes Anderson to stick to his tried-and-true repertoire of actors for his films. From Billy Murray to Jason Schwartzman to Owen Wilson, it’s never a surprise when one of these actors pops up even in a bit part. However, The Phoenician Scheme blissfully breaks from the norm with its main cast of Benicio del Toro (who did appear in The French Dispatch), Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera. Sure, Bill Murray still makes an appearance, as does Willem Dafoe, but much of The Phoenician Scheme’s cast are relatively new faces to Anderson’s line-up. I don’t think I realized how tired I was of seeing the same actors play similar characters so many times in Anderson’s films until this movie.
Del Toro and Threapleton have fantastic chemistry as father and daughter, and they are at the heart of the story. Throughout much of the film, Liesel questions her father on his various unethical dealings. From “employing” slaves to potentially murdering her mother, she keeps him at an arm’s length despite his determined attempts to have her embrace her role as his heir. While most people might jump at the idea of succeeding their parents and inheriting a powerful company — Kendall Roy, where art thou? — Liesel is incredibly resistant. Meanwhile, Korda seems to have a true fondness for his only daughter.

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Although he has 10 children and nine sons (both biological and adopted), the children don’t live with him, and he sent Liesel away at a young age to boarding school. This, mixed with the rumors that Korda had all three previous wives murdered, creates a wedge between him and Liesel. But, as they travel more together, she begins to influence him, and she begins to soften to him when he reveals he’s far more than just a scheming businessman.
Alongside del Toro and Threapleton, Cera is a blast as Bjorn Lund, an insect lover and tutor who tags along and also acts as an assistant. Other highlights of the film include Richard Ayoade’s Sergio, a communist freedom fighter; Jeffrey Wright’s Marty, one of Korda’s many business associates; and Riz Ahmed’s Prince Farouk, one of the investors whom Korda is working with. The cast is packed to the brim as usual, but frequent collaborators take a backseat as Anderson proves that any actor can find a place in his unique little worlds and thrive in them.
Wes Anderson Looks Back at His Greatest Hits While Also Evolving His Style

Part of what makes Wes Anderson so adored is his unique postmodern style and aesthetic. Symmetrical shots, storybook sets, pastels, and matching color palettes, you can tell a movie is directed by Wes Anderson in just a single frame. However, he’s done some experimenting with his style in his two most recent feature-length films, and The Phoenician Scheme is no different. Once again, he is experimenting with different techniques and styles, some more subtle than others. And while he is still ultimately relying on his old bag of tricks, he’s got some new methods that are proving successful. From new camera angles to more creative uses of black and white scenes, it’s nice to see that Anderson can still change and evolve without losing his signature touch.
On top of that, The Phoenician Scheme feels like it’s full of little callbacks to his previous films. The complex family dynamics are reminiscent of The Royal Tenenbaums, scenes in hotels and on ships feel like a nod to The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. These aren’t overt nods, and they don’t feel intentional, but it’s a nice reminder of Anderson’s filmography. Visually, the film looks like a typical Anderson film, but the constant changing of sets makes the story feel more cinematic and less enclosed. Similarly, the espionage aspect of the story goes into unexplored territory for Anderson. Here, Anderson feels a bit too verbose. A lot of the language about business and spy craft goes over my head, and while typically his film scripts are a delight, there were moments where I felt my eyes glaze over during the chatter.
‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Is a Return to Form Because of the Heart of the Film

Image via Focus Features

Ultimately though, what makes The Phoenician Scheme a winner isn’t just the aesthetics or the callbacks or the new faces in the cast; it’s the story at the heart of the film. Unlike his former films, where family relationships primarily revolved either around the parents or fathers and sons, this one focuses specifically on the relationship between a father and his daughter. Del Toro and Threapleton dominate most of the screen time, and that’s to the film’s benefit. We get several moments of heart-to-heart between the two characters, and it ultimately makes Korda’s development feel incredibly genuine.
One of the things that Anderson has always done very well is inserting surprisingly emotional and poignant scenes into his films between the dry wit and humor. We get that in The Grand Budapest Hotel, we get it in Moonrise Kingdom, we get it in The Royal Tenenbaums, and we get it in The Phoenician Scheme. The story at the heart of the film unfolds slowly, and by the time we get to the end, it doesn’t feel like a silly little finale that perfectly ties everything up, it feels earned, which is more than I can say for his previous two films. The Phoenician Scheme feels like a return to form for Anderson, and it’s a sign of better things to come for the stylistic auteur.

The Phoenician Scheme

Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton play a wholesome father-daughter pairing in a fun spy caper from Wes Anderson.

Release Date

May 28, 2025

Writers

Roman Coppola

Producers

Jeremy Dawson, John Peet

Pros & Cons

Strong performances, particularly from del Toro and Threapleton together on screen.
Anderson utilizes new and old techniques expertly to evolve his style.
Strong story with a very narrow focus on two characters rather than an entire ensemble.

Sometimes the language and dialogue around the espionage and business dealings is far too verbose.