The Phoenician Scheme

Drama Comedy Crime English

The story of a family and a family business.

Cast:	Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch
Director:	Wes Anderson
Editor:	Barney Pilling
Camera:	Bruno Delbonnel

All Guild Reviews of "The Phoenician Scheme"

Image of scene from the film The Phoenician Scheme

Wes Anderson Ratchets Up the Whimsy in the Phoenician Scheme, Doesn’t Stick the Landing

Shubhra Gupta | The Indian Express

Fri, May 23 2025

There’s Scarlett Johansson too in a cameo, playing Korda’s second cousin with a whole scene to herself, where she is proposed to

If whimsy had an address, it would be Wes Anderson, whose confections can either delight or dismay. His Cannes competition entry The Phoenician Scheme has nestled firmly into the latter for me: his latest flight of fancy, quite literally, with his lead character traversing the skies in a private jet, being ejected at regular intervals, turns the film into a survival manual. The film is set in the 50s. Benicio Del Toro plays Zsa Zsa Korda, a wealthy businessman who has a half-brother (Benedict Cumberbatch, almost unrecognisable under a thatched beard), a daughter who is a nun, and nine sons. If Korda wasn’t properly eccentric, he wouldn’t be a Wes character: accordingly, he decides to bequeath his empire to Liesl (Mia Threapleton), whether she likes it or not.