The Phoenician Scheme Review: A Return to Form
Theatrical Movie Review - Comedy
There are plenty of directors with distinctive styles, but perhaps none hit that mark with quite as much precision as Wes Anderson. And if Anderson’s style works for you, odds are good that you are going to enjoy this auteur’s latest offering, The Phoenician Scheme. More grounded than Asteroid City and more straightforward than The French Connection, The Phoenician Scheme is both funny and heartwarming.
Zsa-zsa Koda (Benicio Del Toro) has just survived yet another assassination attempt and decides that it is time for him to declare an heir to his fortune. He invites his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), to meet with him and shows her all of the potential pitfalls to his proposed accumulation of wealth. Despite her insistence that she wants to be a nun, Liesl agrees to accompany Zsa-zsa along with the tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera) on a tour of Phoenicia to sort out how best to save his empire from various opposition.
The Phoenician Scheme is laugh-out-loud funny throughout. The various people that Zsa-zsa and Liesl meet through their journey across Phoenicia are all brilliantly cast. The basketball-playing pair of Bryan Cranston and Tom Hanks is hilarious in the way they pull off these trick shots with no expression at all. Richard Ayoade, as the insurgent, steals every scene he is in. Benedict Cumberbatch as the wild-eyebrowed Uncle Nubar gives the respite we need from one deadpan performance after another. Even Bill Murray, with his short cameo, is absolute perfection.
The particulars of the plot will likely be of less importance than the vibes for most movie-goers. Ultimately, the bits are where this film shines. Each time Zsa-zsa meets one of his adversaries, there is a similar rhythm to the scenes, and that rhythm, combined with some genuinely funny performances, is what carries this movie. There is a sub-plot about the death of Liesl’s mother, and frequent trips to the afterlife during Zsa-zsa’s assassination attempts, but again, this film is more than the sum of its parts.
The standouts in The Phoenician Scheme are Del Toro and Cera. Del Toro delivers every line with this impassive tone that makes so many of them work. Whether he’s offering someone a free hand grenade, discussing his assassination attempts, or explaining that he adopted some sons just to hedge his bets, it is all delivered with the same measured tone that makes it so fun to watch. And Cera gives a career-best performance as Bjorn. It’s hard to discuss without spoilers, but suffice it to say that while I’ve been a fan since his time on Arrested Development, this is easily my favorite role he’s played.
Despite being a relatively straightforward movie, The Phoenician Scheme does explore some themes of family and home in ways that are surprisingly charming and thoughtful in the midst of all of the silliness, which elevates this film to something beyond simple entertainment. It’s certainly a movie that you can invest as much or as little thought into as you would like. Or you can just feel free to help yourself to a hand grenade.
Rating: 3.5/5
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on June 7, 2025.