Skip to content
The Phoenician Scheme centres around eccentric businessman and financial scumbag Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro – Sicario 2: Soldado, and I’m still waiting for the third installment!), who wants to set up a scheme that’ll net him and others a stack of cash over the next 150 years, regardless of the facts no-one can live that long, as well as there being lots of people wanting to assassinate him.
Set in 1950, one option to stay alive is to fake his death in a plane crash…
Daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton – also seen in Channel 4’s I Am Ruth, and as she’s Kate Winslet’s daughter, her voice is 100% the same!) is the sole heir to his estate… well, it turns out he does also have 9 sons, but for reasons best known to him, he isn’t making them his heir. In fact, as he sets out, in a script where Wes Anderson is being very ‘Wes Anderson’…:
- Korda: “I’ve appointed you sole heir to my estate, which you may come into, sooner rather than later”
Liesl: “Why? It’s been 6 years since our last meeting.”
Korda: “I have my reasons.”
Liesl: “Which are what?
Korda: “My reasons. I’m not saying.”
What is also very ‘Wes Anderson’, is the choice of aspect ratio in which this is filmed. Often, he goes with a straight 2.39:1 widescreen image all the way through, such as with Asteroid City and many others; occasionally, he’ll change between several ones, as shown in The Grand Budapest Hotel, but for this – as the image below shows – it’s a very narrow 1.50:1 throughout. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but he made it happen.
Even with such a very tight framing of 1.50:1, there’s brilliant composition of the frame, such as in the opening credits, post-plane crash, when Korda is relaxing in the bath, on the extreme left of the screen. Oh, and spot the champagne in the bidet!
With a large cast that also includes Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jason Watkins, and Bill Murray as God, everyone gets a turn, although there’s a hell of a lot to take in, in the script.
As such, when it came to the financial breakdowns of the actual Phoenician Scheme – frequently quoted as the numbers are updated – I was completely perplexed as to the way it was processed. Quite possibly, because the film is very loquacious, and thus, a bit of a head-fuck. The answer is that I really need to see this again to get more of a handle on it, but I loved what I saw.
I could quote aplenty from this film, but I don’t want to spoil them all, so I’ll just give one more, which is when Korda is asked “Where were you shot?”, and he replies directly, “Where the blood is coming out”.
And for the first time ever that I’ve seen, the credits didn’t go up nor down, but just scrolled from right to left! WTF?! Only Wes Anderson would think of that!
Plus, interstingly, this is the first time I’ve seen a film’s credits state: “This film may not be used to train AI”.
The Phoenician Scheme is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 101 minutes
Release date: May 23rd 2025
Studio: 1.50:1 (35 mm (Kodak Vision3 200T 5213))
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Wes Anderson
Producers: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, John Peet, Steven Rales
Screenplay: Wes Anderson
Story: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
Zsa-zsa Korda: Benicio Del Toro
Liesl: Mia Threapleton
Bjorn: Michael Cera
Prince Farouk: Riz Ahmed
Marty: Jeffrey Wright
Young Liesl: Beatrice Campbell
God: Bill Murray
Angel: Freya Feyrouz
Leland: Tom Hanks
Reagan: Bryan Cranston
Cousin Hilda: Scarlett Johansson
Mother Superior: Hope Davis
Uncle Nubar: Benedict Cumberbatch
Notary: Jason Watkins
The Pilot: Stephen Park
1st Wife: Charlotte Gainsbourg
2nd Wife: Antonia Desplat
3rd Wife: Antonia Schröter
Assassin #3 (Elevator): Volker Zack
Field Reporter: Scott Shepherd
Knave: Willem Dafoe
Prophet: F Murray Abraham
Administrative Secretary: Truman Hanks
Young Anatole: Carmen Maja Antoni
Nurse: Aleksandra Wysoczanska
Nurse: Shabnam Kohestani
Nurse: Thuli Wolf
Nurse: Jennifer Behnke
Nurse: Luisa Steimann
Chairman: Donald Sumpter
Excalibur: Rupert Friend
Bureaucrats: Yekta Arman, Giuseppe O’Bruadair, Sanjay Hari, Alexander Kühne, Young Sam Kim, Andreas Krafft, Faysal Omer, Werner Ort, Alexander Yassin, Hans Carl von Werthern, Harry Wiggins, Simon Weisse,
Broadcloth: Alex Jennings
Footmen: Matthew Jordan, Sönke Möhring, Max Mauff, Philipp Droste, Merlin Sandmeyer,
Korda’s Son – Jasper: Edward Hyland
Korda’s Son – David: Kit Rakusen
Korda’s Son – Phillip: Milo James
Korda’s Son – Michael: Ogden Dawson
Korda’s Son – Jamie: Hector Bateman-Harden
Korda’s Son – Harry: Benjamin Lake
Korda’s Son – Steven: Gunes Taner
Korda’s Son – Samuel: Gabriel Ryan
Korda’s Son – Thomas: Momo Ramadan
Korda’s Son – David #2: Jonathan Wirtz
Governess: Imke Büchel
Governess: Anna Bardorf
Tailor: Gabriele Pacchia
Barber: Mohamad Younes
Cook: Sabine Hollweck
Arsonists: Daniel Steiner, Benoît Herlin
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.