‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Review: Wes Anderson’s Latest Explores the Meaning of Legacy and Features a Superb Breakthrough Performance from Mia Threapleton [A-] Cannes

Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, starts off with a bang. No literally it does, as we find Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro), an enigmatic industrialist and one of the richest men in Europe, surviving yet another threat on his life at the hands of a hired assassin, this time in the form of a bomb going off on a plane. It’s become hat in hand for the ruthless, wildly complex, brilliant minded businessman known for his elaborate schemes that generate vast sums of money for all of those willing to trust him over the years and invest in his gambles. But during this recent escape of death, he briefly passes to the other side, seeing a literal trail of his life as he sits there, hearing opening statements and testimony to his character, all the while, right beside him, is his mother, for whom has been dead for many years. When he jolts back into the real world, and emerges blooded and tattered from the crash in a corn field, he sets out to execute his most elaborate scheme yet, while also making amends with a part of himself that will look to be the greatest regret turn success of his life, his relationship with his daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton, daughter of Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet). This is the launching point for Anderson’s latest espionage, adventure comedy that finds a father-daughter story at the center of one of his thornier, reflective pieces of entertainment within his filmography.

Upon returning to his luxurious home, Korda is recovering, sitting in his bathtub, smoking an old cigar, eating pasta with a glass of wine; living in style. Shown via an overhead shot in slow-motion, Anderson and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, in their first collaboration together, showcase the elegant clockwork precision of decadence found within Korda’s life, as more than a half dozen servants enter the room, all the while he is soaking in the tub. While this is going on, Liesl arrives, per her estranged father’s request, which she obliges out of curiosity for not just the meaning behind their reunion after years of not speaking, but to finally get the answers as to who killed her mother. His reveal is no more shocking to her than her appearance to him, as she has become a nun and is looking to take her vows fairly soon, and he is looking to make her the sole beneficiary to his vast fortune. While he has nine other children (all boys who are around the ages of ten to twelve), Liesl is the oldest, most mature, and Korda sees the potential within her to carry on his legacy the best. In agreeing to terms of this succession via a “trail period” for both the taking over of his affairs and developing a relationship again, Anderson’s quick, zippy dialogue allows del Toro and Threapleton the space to find their footing in each of their characters and form a bond that shines throughout the film.

Upon their agreement, Korda lays out his plan to Liesl about his most elaborate scheme yet, Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme, which involves the expansive exploitation of a long-dormant region of their country not yet tapped into for natural resources and opportunities. This is a long-term plan, as he would take five percent of the profits for the next hundred and fifty years to outweigh the costs he and his partners are putting into the project. It would cement his legacy, make him richer beyond his wildest dreams, while also establish a bedrock of electricity, industry, and transport benefitting the region for many generations after he is gone; that’s if the plan works. But a threat to his plan is presented when an American lead mission by spy code named Excalibur (Rupert Friend), set the wheels in motion to disrupt the market that Korda has his investments in, do to the fact that he is a rouge business man that goes beyond the boundaries of normal deal making to secure a fortune that doesn’t benefit the powers at play. In a sense, his success makes them look foolish even though his deals are far more complicated. This disruption causes a widening of “the gap” of the funds needed to complete the project, putting Korda’s current fortune and the entire plan at risk. With this, he, alongside Leisl and Korda’s new tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera), set out to the five parties that investigates, along with whatever he has left, which can be just enough to get the deal done before it is all too late.

From this point forward, the story becomes a delightful, hilarious three-hander, as Anderson taps back into the adventurous whimsy found within his other films like Fantastic Mr. Fox or The Grand Budapest Hotel. As we go from investor to investor, a murderer’s row of Anderson’s collection of veteran actors come in to deliver a moment or two of humor or hijinks to add context to their long standing relationship with Korda. Whether it is the Sacramento Consortium (Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston, in a priceless scene where they play basketball to secure no more alterations of the deal), Marseille Bob (Mathieu Almaric, a nightclub owner-gangster), Marty (Jeffrey Wright, a shipping magnate and leader of the Newark Syndicate), or Cousin Hilda, for whom Korda will marry for her fortune to secure her portion of the deal, Anderson gives all of his usual role players a chance to shine against his film’s protagonists along their journey. But the most important piece of the puzzle is the investment Uncle Nubar, who is Korda’s half-brother, and for whom Korda tells Liesl is the person behind the murder of her mother. While Liesl doesn’t trust a word out of her father’s mouth, she is however curious about if this is true, and if so, what justice, not revenge, for her mother’s death. Nubar also loved her mother, and might’ve had an affair with her and could be Liesl’s actual father, but over the course of their adventure, it is clear that the affection for Korda and Liesl grows beyond their expectations, and evolves into a beautiful relationship. Scattered throughout this film and each section with the investors lies some of the best production design of the year from Adam Stockhausen, giving every location a real distinct look that speaks to not just the character that inhabits their respected environment, but to showcase a world that does have beauty within it but is in need of a face lift in order to flourish in the future. Old night clubs, an Egyptian themed hotel, the trains, planes, and even the model of what Korda’s finished project will look like are expertly detailed and is some of the best work of Stockhausen’s career.

In his evolution as a filmmaker, Anderson has broadened his collection of actors and given the runway for some of our best veteran actors to shine within his imaginative cinematic creation. For The Phoenician Scheme, that honor goes to Benicio del Toro, who worked brilliantly with Anderson before in the second section of The French Dispatch, and continues his excellence here as Korda, bringing a presence that’s equal parts mysterious, charming, confident, silly, stoic, nurturing display in just about every scene. But even as good as del Toro is here, Threapleton and Cera steal the show from him, as his two counterparts on this mission. For Threapleton, this is a breakout performance, as she understands the Wes Anderson rhythm like a seasoned vet, going toe-to-toe with del Toro as a woman of faith juggling her commitment to the church, her feelings to avenge the mother she lost, and forging a path of forgiveness for the father that abandoned her when she was so young. It’s the breakout performance of the year so far and one that should catapult her into a long career, much like her mother’s performance in Heavenly Creatures did several years ago. Alongside her is Cera, whose work at Bjorn is the perfect balance of absurdity with his German accent and knowledge of insects, hilarity within the delivery of dialogue (particularly the scene where he is drunk after drinking just three beers on the train with Liesl), and the sincerity of a man caught in the middle of a conflict of his job and falling in love with the woman of his dreams. It’s honestly hard to believe that Cera hasn’t been in an Anderson film before but he fits right in and it would be delightful to see him work with the famed director in future projects as this is the best performance of his career. 

Over the course of the last couple of films, Anderson has tapped into meta commentary that has broadened the scope of the lite, entertaining films he’s become known for. In The French Dispatch, he spoke of his love for the written word, the writers that inspired him, and how the loneliness found in being a citizen of the world. For his next film, Asteroid City, he examined the idea of the American stage play, our isolationism with the pandemic, the fear found in losing someone you love, and how not everything in life, or the stage, is meant to be understood; just saying the words is good enough. With The Phoenician Scheme, his main character’s inspirations are pronounced as he looked to 1950s Euro tycoons like Stavros Niarchos or Aristotle Onassis, and even a little bit of fictional ones like Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane. But as the picture unfolds, one can’t help but connect Anderson’s latest film to his association with another dominant figure within the culture, one that he’s shared a connection to throughout his career, Frances Ford Coppola. In watching the film, memories came to mind of last year’s Cannes Film Festival press conference where Coppola spoke about Megalopolis, a project decades in the making that was consumed by the passion of a director putting everything he owns on the line to create something that will live longer than he would, working closely with multiple members of his family in the process; profits be damned. 

Legacy is on the mind of Anderson throughout the film, as Korda’s is working hard to secure funds for the project, not dissimilar to when a director is trying to desperately get the financing for their next project secured, with deals being altered and shouting matches ensuing throughout the negotiating process. By confronting the idea of death (we literally see God in the form of Bill Murray), Anderson does something only an experienced director would start to contemplate as they become more reflective with age, and make it a strong statement about chances to make a better life are limited as the days go on. Leave no regrets and make amends for the mistakes of one’s past collide with the success of long term personal goals, showcasing that both can be achieved; it’s beautifully webbed together by Anderson.

Sure, Korda’s almost nine-lives escapes of death become a signature feature of his charm and character, but The Phoenician Scheme and its director’s overwhelming observation is that when luck runs out for all, and when it is our time to go, what will you have to show for it. Riches come and go but the ones we hold close in our hearts are foundational and eternal. This continued profoundness is starting to become a welcomed constant in what might be the strongest era of Anderson’s career, only enriching the experience of seeing a new title from him every couple of years. To quote Korda’s reaction when there is a bump or hiccup throughout various flights in the film (certainly because of a potential plot to take his life), while watching the films of Wes Anderson right now, “myself, I feel very safe.”

Grade: A-

This review is from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival where The Phoenician Scheme premiered In Competition. Focus Features will release the film theatrically in the U.S. on June 6.