The story of a family and a family business. A film by Wes Anderson, starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Ayoade, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, and Hope Davis.
THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
Wes Anderson
(2025)
Business tycoon Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro) boards his private plane when an explosion tears through the aircraft, another assassination attempt that kills his administrative secretary (Truman Hanks) and blows a gaping hole in the fuselage.
In desperation, Korda fires his pilot (Stephen Park) mid-flight and ejects him from the plane before attempting an emergency landing that sends the aircraft careening into a cornfield.
While unconscious from the crash, Korda finds himself in the afterlife, where he encounters the mysterious Knave (Willem Dafoe), a Prophet (F. Murray Abraham), and his late grandmother (Carmen Maja Antoni), who fails to recognize him.
When Knave opens a wooden coffin to reveal young Anatole (Mattia Moreno Leonidas) inside, the boy suddenly gasps to life. And Korda awakens in the real world, lying battered in the cornfield wreckage.
After surviving yet another assassination attempt, Korda retreats to his estate, Palazzo Korda, where he summons his daughter, Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton). He names her the sole heir to his estate and the provisional manager of his affairs in the event of his death. When Liesl questions why he’s chosen her over his nine other sons, Korda remains cryptically evasive, offering only that he refuses to let his enemies benefit from killing him.
As Korda begins explaining his lifelong, ambitious project “Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Scheme,” Liesl cuts him off with a more pressing concern. She reveals that the only reason she agreed to meet him was to confront him about persistent rumors that he murdered her mother. Korda flatly denies the accusation, insisting he has never personally killed anyone. Without evidence to prove otherwise, Liesl reluctantly accepts his word.
Korda then introduces Liesl to her nine brothers: Jasper (Edward Hyland), David (Kit Rakusen), Phillip (Milo James), Michael (Ogden Dawson), Harry (Benjamin Lake), Jamie (Hector Bateman-Harden), Samuel (Gabriel Ryan), Steven (Gunes Taner), and Thomas (Momo Ramadan), who won’t be joining them for luncheon but instead observe silently from the second-floor balcony. He mentions casually that they all live together in a dormitory across the street.
Korda then proceeds to explain the importance of several shoeboxes containing his elaborate plans: the Trans-Basin Hydroelectric Embankment, Trans-desert Inland Waterway, Trans-mountain Locomotive Tunnel, and an indentured workforce system. Additional smaller shoeboxes hold his negotiations with his principal partners: bankers, real estate moguls, and black market syndicates.
When Korda bets his entire fortune on an ambitious project to overhaul Phoenicia’s infrastructure, several governments looking to stop his unethical business practices see their chance. They drive up the price of building materials, threatening to bankrupt Korda Enterprises.
Desperate to save his empire, Korda embarks on a globe-trotting mission with his daughter and their Norwegian tutor Bjørn (Michael Cera) to court a parade of eccentric investors.
Their journey takes them to meetings with Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), the crown prince of Phoenicia; Sacramento investors Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston); nightclub owner Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric); Newark Syndicate leader Marty (Jeffrey Wright); Korda’s cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson); and his estranged half-brother Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).
As costs spiral out of control, Korda finds himself manipulating contracts and sweet-talking investors, hoping to squeeze enough additional funding from each to keep his grand scheme from collapsing entirely.
Written and directed by Wes Anderson from an original story he co-wrote with Roman Coppola, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME is quintessentially Anderson, a singular cinematic experience that defies conventional genre classification.
From start to finish, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME delivers the kind of hilarious, engaging storytelling that has become Anderson’s trademark. This dark comedy showcases everything that makes Anderson’s work unmistakable: razor-sharp dialogue delivered at breakneck speed, perfectly timed deadpan reactions, pastel color palettes, decorative setpieces, symmetric framing, and an extraordinary ensemble cast that only Anderson could assemble.
The film is a testament to Anderson’s unique ability to attract A-list talent for projects that exist entirely in their own universe, creating what could best be described as its own genre rather than fitting into any existing category.
THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME premiered at Festival de Cannes on 18 May 2025. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 30 May, by Focus Features.
On an interesting note, if you stay to watch the end credits, you’ll notice something unusual. After listing the usual cast and crew, the film includes a comprehensive catalog of paintings and art pieces featured throughout the movie, with titles, details, and owner credits. This made me realize that the artwork glimpsed in backgrounds and set pieces aren’t replicas but authentic masterpieces.
I can’t imagine the sheer trust these collectors must have had in Wes Anderson’s team to lend such precious pieces for the production. Between the harsh lighting, equipment, and changing environments, it’s remarkable that these valuable artworks were used on set.
PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR
Enfant Assis en Robe Bleue (Portrait d’Edmond Renoir jr.), 1889
Enfant Assis en Robe Bleue (Child Seated in a Blue Dress) is an 1889 oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, one of the foremost Impressionist artists. The work actually depicts Renoir’s nephew, Edmond Renoir. Although the long hair and blue dress have often led viewers to mistakenly assume the subject is a girl—this was, in fact, typical attire for young boys from affluent French families of the era. The painting’s history is as colorful as its brushwork. In 1942, the legendary actress Greta Garbo purchased the portrait shortly after retiring from Hollywood and kept it in her private New York apartment for nearly half a century. After Garbo’s death in 1990, the painting was sold at Sotheby’s for $7 million, and then again in 2007 for $10.9 million, making it one of the most valuable Renoir portraits ever auctioned. The painting featured in the film was on loan from The Nahmad Collection, which is one of the largest and most influential private art collections in the world, assembled over two generations by the Nahmad family, originally from Syria and later based in Monaco and New York. The Nahmad Collection is primarily managed by brothers David and Ezra Nahmad, who began art dealing in the 1960s and have since built a reputation as “mega-dealers” in modern and Impressionist art. The Nahmad Collection includes thousands of works by major artists such as Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Modigliani, Kandinsky, Miró, Dalí, Degas, and Seurat, among others. Notably, the Nahmad Collection is said to hold over 300 paintings by Picasso alone, making it the largest private collection of Picasso’s works outside the artist’s family.
RENÉ MAGRITTE
The Equator, 1942
René Magritte’s The Equator is a lesser-known but striking example of the Belgian surrealist’s ability to transform ordinary objects into thought-provoking images. The painting features a lone gray plant whose leaves morph into doves, set against an ambiguous background. This work, like many of Magritte’s paintings, plays with the boundaries between reality and illusion, prompting viewers to question what they see and what it might mean. The painting featured in the film was on loan from the Pietzsch Collection, which is one of the world’s most significant private collections of modern art, assembled by the Berlin-based couple Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch beginning in the 1960s. Pietzsch Collection is especially renowned for its focus on European Surrealism and its influence on American Abstract Expressionism. The collection features masterpieces by artists such as René Magritte, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Frida Kahlo.
JURIAEN JACOBSZ
Dogs in Combat, 1678
Juriaen Jacobsz’s Dogs in Combat (more commonly known as The Dog Fight, 1678) is a dramatic oil on canvas measuring approximately 93 x 78 cm. Painted during the Dutch Golden Age, this work captures a fierce, visceral struggle between dogs, rendered with dynamic energy and anatomical precision. The painting featured in the film was on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle, one of Germany’s largest and most important art museums, located in the heart of Hamburg between the city’s central train station and the Alster lakes. Founded in 1849 and opened to the public in 1869. In The Phoenician Scheme, the painting appears flipped, with the black dog on the left; this is a mirrored image and not the original orientation.
JAN WEENIX
Still Life with a Hare and other Game, 1680
Jan Weenix’s Still Life with a Hare and other Game (1680) is a prime example of Dutch Baroque still life. This work features a dead hare lying on its back, surrounded by other game birds, lush foliage, a hunting horn, and prominently, white flowers. The composition is set against a classical garden landscape, with a decorative urn and a distant estate visible in the background. This particular painting is often attributed to Jan Weenix, though some sources may list it under his father, Jan Baptist Weenix, due to their similar styles. The presence of the white flowers and the detailed, luxurious arrangement of game and hunting accoutrements are characteristic of Jan Weenix’s mature still lifes, which were highly sought after by wealthy patrons for their technical brilliance and opulent symbolism. Weenix’s technical mastery is evident in his rendering of textures: he used his finest brushes to depict the soft fur of the hare and the stiff wings of the partridge with remarkable realism. For the moss in the foreground, he innovatively pressed wood or paper onto the wet paint and then removed it, creating a lifelike, textured effect. The painting featured in the film was on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle. Not to be confused with the more famous piece currently housed in the Rijksmuseum, which was painted in 1697 and is widely recognized as a masterpiece of Dutch Baroque still life.
JULIUS VON EHREN
The Barbara-Altar (Four Copies after Master Francke), 1925
The Barbara-Altar (Four Copies after Master Francke) by Julius von Ehren is an oil on panel artwork created in 1925. It consists of four painted copies that reinterpret the panels of the famous medieval Saint Barbara Altarpiece originally by Master Francke, a renowned 15th-century German painter. Julius von Ehren was a German Post-Impressionist painter known primarily for his landscapes, village scenes, and animal paintings. Von Ehren was a founding member of the Hamburgischer Künstlerklub in 1897 and was active in several artist associations, including the Deutscher Künstlerbund and the Berlin Secession. Von Ehren’s style is characterized by vibrant use of color and a focus on naturalistic depictions of rural life and animals, with a particular emphasis on light effects. Although best known for his genre scenes and landscapes, he also engaged with historical and religious themes. The paintings featured in the film were on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
FLORIS GERRITSZ VAN SCHOOTEN
Still Life of Breakfast with Roast Ox, 1640
Floris Gerritsz van Schooten’s “Still Life of Breakfast with Roast Ox” is a classic example of the Dutch Golden Age breakfast piece, a genre in which van Schooten was particularly renowned. This painting, like many of his works, displays a carefully arranged table laden with food—here, notably, a rib of roast beef (often referred to as “roast ox”), bread, cheese, pewter plates, and a beaker, all rendered with remarkable attention to texture and surface. While the painting celebrates abundance and the pleasures of the table, it also subtly reminds viewers of the fleeting nature of earthly delights—a gentle nod to the transience of life. In the 17th century, many Dutch still life paintings, including Floris Gerritsz van Schooten’s Still Life of Breakfast with Roast Ox (1640), were painted using oil paint on thin panels made of oak wood rather than canvas. These oak panels were typically made by joining several planks of oak together and planed down to a thickness generally around 1.5 to 2 centimeters, though thickness could vary depending on the panel size and purpose. Oak was a common and durable wood panel favored by Dutch and Flemish painters for its fine grain and stability, which allowed for detailed brushwork and longevity. The painting featured in the film was on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
CARL RAFFAEL
Eine Eiche im Winter, 1864
There is very limited information about Carl Raffael’s Eine Eiche im Winter. It does not seem to be catalogued or discussed in major museum collections or scholarly publications. Carl Raffael appears to have been a lesser-known painter whose works aren’t well-documented in online art databases, which tend to focus on more prominent artists of the period. Many 19th-century paintings, particularly those by regional German artists, remain uncatalogued in digital formats, existing primarily in private collections or smaller museums that haven’t yet made their holdings widely accessible online. The painting featured in the film was on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
TILMAN RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Workshop: Lamentation of Christ, ca. 1500
Workshop versions of Tilman Riemenschneider’s Lamentation of Christ are sculptures or reliefs created either by Riemenschneider himself or by his assistants following his designs and style. These works, often carved in limewood or stone and originally polychromed, depict the emotional scene of Christ’s lifeless body mourned by figures such as the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. Multiple versions of this theme were produced by the workshop, reflecting its popularity in devotional art during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Some pieces linked to Riemenschneider’s workshop show subtle carving and naturalistic detail characteristic of his style.The wooden relief featured in the film was on loan from the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
