The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
As I wrote in my last post, I saw both Bring Her Back (2025) and The Phoenician Scheme (2025) over the weekend of 6/6/25-6/8/25. In the case of the latter, I saw the film on Sunday 6/8/25. This one I did want to try to see at either "The Vicky" in Rancho Cucamonga or "The Eddy" in Ontario with my full group of friends. However, not everyone's schedules were able to align, so I ended up seeing it again at "The Ciney" in Victorville with a few of my friends from the main group. Interestingly enough, we saw the film at the same auditorium with the same glitchy projector as Bring Her Back the day before. I suppose it's my fault for not informing the staff of the projector prior. At any rate, the glitching wasn't super bad, but for this particular movie where there's a lot of detail put into each frame, it's more of an issue here than with Bring Her Back the day before.
After the film, I hung out with that group and some other friends that came by before they all went furniture shopping. I went on my own to Rancho Cucamonga to grab some Birkenstock sandals, after admiring my friend's pair when he brought them on our Big Bear Trip a couple weeks back. I tried on a pair that seemed to fit okay and made the grave mistake of wearing them out of the store with my dogs out to give them a taste of the late spring afternoon vibes. Not long before I made it back to my car I was cutting up the sides of my feet and feeling miserable. Since then though, my feet had healed up and I returned the first pair for a slightly wider and longer size that have now broken in. After I returned to my car, I put on a different pair of shoes and socks and made my way to KoKo's Korean Fried Chicken in Buena Park. I made plans with another one of my friends to meet them for dinner later in the evening. In spite of the hour and needing to be up for work the next day, I had a great time catching up and perhaps a greater time enjoying the meal.
The Phoenician Scheme is the latest dark comedy ensemble from director and writer Wes Anderson, coming off of a story conceived by him and Roman Coppola. After narrowly avoiding his latest assassination attempt, wealthy industrialist Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (Benicio Del Toro) decides to reach out to his estranged only daughter, a nun named Liesl (Mia Threapleton), and appoints her not only as the sole heir to his estate, but as a partner in his latest swindling scheme. This being a Wes Anderson directed picture, the film is very pleasing from a visual and aesthetic viewpoint. The shot direction, mixed in with the very detailed production design serve to give a great sense of depth for something you’re watching on a 2D plane. As one of my friends described it, the visual style of the film lends to the vibe of watching a stageplay, and I’d be inclined to agree; I got the same feeling when watching Anderson’s previous film, Asteroid City (2023). Admittedly, I’m returning to write this post nearly 3 weeks after having seen the movie, but specific shots and sequences that come to mind when I think about the film are the opening credits sequence with Korda recovering from the opening assassination attempt and pretty much any scene that takes place on Korda’s personal plane. Often the way that characters are positioned in the frame contribute to the film’s humor, with the aforementioned plane scenes being a good example.
On the subject of performances, I generally enjoyed all the actors and the characters they brought to life on screen. However, when it comes to ensembles with such a stacked cast, it can be easy either for characters fighting for screen presence to the film’s detriment or the sheer amount of big name actors featured to distract from the film. In the case of The Phoenician Scheme, while I don’t feel that the screen presence problem is an issue, the distraction factor is to a small extent. I feel like film nerds will go watch a newer Wes Anderson movie like this and routinely point at the screen every time they’re favorite actor appears for the first time. That’s a little bit of projection on my part as my friends and I often gave looks to each other and did little silent claps when Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, and Willem Dafoe (to name a few) showed up. To be more specific, I enjoyed Benicio del Toro and the charismatic roguish appeal he brought to swindling businessman, Anatole Korda. In addition, Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston being cast as brothers / business partners / basketball shooting pros was not a combination I thought I needed, but was very funny to watch. In a similar vein, I enjoyed Richard Ayoade as Segio, the leader of the most polite and courteous militant revolutionary group you’ll likely see on screen; I found his introduction to be pretty hysterical in particular. Finally, I want to highlight Mia Threapleton as Sister Liesl. From my understanding, this is Threapleton’s first leading role and I feel she stands out well amidst the stacked ensemble cast. I particularly enjoy how her character plays off of Del Toro’s in the unconventional father/daughter dynamic that the film portrays.
Overall, I’ll give The Phoenician Scheme a Best Movie Ever. I enjoyed watching the movie, but acknowledge that I personally did not get a whole lot out of my viewing experience from a thematic or emotional standpoint, especially in comparison to Bring Her Back. Again I find the film is stunning from a visual standpoint, and I feel the performances are enjoyable in the moment as well, but after a while I’ll admit I did get a little lost following the story. Perhaps when I revisit this film, I begin to piece out the details of this rube goldberg machine of a plot, not too dissimilar to how you start to notice more details the longer you observe a painting. However, if you’re generally not into Wes Anderson’s film style, you’ll probably find that it’s at its most excessive with this film. Nevertheless, I’ll always encourage giving the movie a try. Who knows? You may just like it.
As for my next post, I just watched 28 Days Later (2002) for the first time and will likely watch the recently released 28 Years Later (2025) this week as well. In addition to those movies, I also plan on watching MEG3N 2.0 (2025) with friends. I guess we both just have to wait and see what I write about next. Have a good night.