Honestly, if you walked into a theater expecting another Asteroid City, you probably walked out of The Phoenician Scheme feeling a little lightheaded. It’s different. Wes Anderson has always been the king of the "dollhouse aesthetic," but his latest flick—which hit U.S. theaters back in May 2025—feels like he finally decided to set the dollhouse on fire. Or at least, let some very dark, very real shadows creep into the attic.
The movie follows Zsa-Zsa Korda. He's an international businessman, a "tycoon of tycoons," played with a surprisingly weary grit by Benicio del Toro. Zsa-Zsa has survived twelve plane crashes. Twelve! He’s basically a walking miracle of capitalism, but he’s dying, and he’s desperate to hand his empire over to his daughter, Liesl. The catch? She’s a nun. A Catholic novice, played by Mia Threapleton, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her father’s amoral infrastructure projects or his blood-soaked fortune.
What is The Phoenician Scheme actually about?
Most people think Wes Anderson just makes "pretty" movies. They’re wrong. The Phoenician Scheme is basically an espionage thriller wrapped in a family tragedy. It’s set in a fictionalized 1940s Europe—mostly shot in Germany—and it feels a lot more like a John le Carré novel than a storybook.
You’ve got Michael Cera playing Bjorn Lund, a nerdy Norwegian tutor who gets caught in the crossfire. You’ve got Riz Ahmed as a sheltered prince. Then there’s the "Board," a group of shadowy government execs whose only job is to dismantle Korda’s life work. It’s a lot to keep track of.
💡 You might also like: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
The movie isn't just about spies, though. It’s deeply personal. Anderson actually dedicated the film to his late father-in-law, Fouad Malouf. He was a Lebanese engineer, and Anderson has described him as this "larger-than-life figure" who was both wise and a bit scary. You can feel that weight in the scenes between del Toro and Threapleton. It’s not just quirky dialogue; it’s a father realizing his entire life’s work was just a "scheme" to stay connected to a daughter who outgrew him years ago.
The cast is predictably massive
Look, it’s a Wes Anderson movie. If half of Hollywood isn’t in the credits, did it even happen? But the way he uses them this time is... odd.
- Benicio del Toro: He’s the heart of the movie. He plays Korda as a man who knows he’s a villain but wants to be a saint.
- Mia Threapleton: This was her breakout. She’s Kate Winslet’s daughter, by the way. She brings a "frosty self-possession" to Sister Liesl that holds up against del Toro’s intensity.
- The Cameos: This is where fans got annoyed. Bill Murray shows up as God. Literally. In a robe and a Santa beard. Willem Dafoe is there. Scarlett Johansson plays a cousin. Benedict Cumberbatch is "Uncle Nubar." Most of these are tiny roles in black-and-white sequences set at the "gates of heaven."
Why the critics are fighting about it
The reviews were "generally positive," but that’s a polite way of saying the internet had a meltdown. Some critics, like those at Slate, argued this might be Anderson’s "worst movie" because it’s too dense. It’s 101 minutes of pure, unfiltered information.
📖 Related: The Real Story Behind I Can Do Bad All by Myself: From Stage to Screen
On the other hand, the New Statesman called it a masterpiece of "late-period Anderson." They loved the connection to real-world history—specifically how Korda is modeled on Calouste Gulbenkian, the oil tycoon known as "Mr. Five Per Cent."
It’s not a cozy movie. It’s an "espionage black comedy thriller." It’s dark. There are assassins. There’s slave labor mentioned in the infrastructure project (the "Phoenician scheme" itself). It’s a far cry from the whimsical scouts of Moonrise Kingdom.
Technical Specs: The Bruno Delbonnel Effect
One big shift was the cinematography. Usually, Wes works with Robert Yeoman. This time, he tapped Bruno Delbonnel—the guy who did Amélie and Inside Llewyn Davis.
👉 See also: Love Island UK Who Is Still Together: The Reality of Romance After the Villa
The result? It still has those signature symmetrical shots, but the lighting is moodier. It’s "noir-adjacent." The fictional state of Phoenicia looks like a dream you’d have after eating too much cheese—beautiful, but slightly threatening.
What you should do before watching (or re-watching)
If you haven't seen it yet, or you're planning a second viewing (which Anderson himself recommends), keep these things in mind:
- Don't focus on the plot. It’s a "scheme." It’s supposed to be convoluted. Focus on the relationship between Zsa-Zsa and Liesl.
- Watch the backgrounds. Because the film was shot at Studio Babelsberg in Germany, the detail in the sets is insane. Adam Stockhausen (the production designer) really went all out on the 1940s-meets-imaginary-Middle-East vibe.
- Listen to the score. Alexandre Desplat is back, but it’s less "twee" and more "suspense."
- Check out the exhibition. If you’re near London before July 2026, there’s a massive "Wes Anderson: The Archives" show running. It has the original shoeboxes that inspired the film.
The Phoenician Scheme is currently available on most streaming platforms and physical media. If you're a completionist, the Criterion Collection version is rumored to be coming later this year with a bunch of Roman Coppola’s behind-the-scenes footage.
To get the most out of it, watch it on the largest screen possible. The black-and-white "heaven" sequences lose all their impact on a phone screen. Afterward, look up Calouste Gulbenkian's biography—the real-life "Mr. Five Per Cent"—to see just how much of the "Korda" character was pulled from actual history. This isn't just a movie about a guy in a suit; it's a weirdly accurate autopsy of 20th-century capitalism.