Matthew Percefull
Wes Anderson is back, folks! The acclaimed director known for his iconic, analog style has unleashed the first trailer for his twelfth feature film, The Phoenician Scheme. The trailer is a star-studded romp that feels like Wes Anderson is having fun with his own style. It doesn’t reveal much aside from the basic plot and a peek at the film’s impressive cast, but it does just enough to excite without committing the cardinal trailer sin of giving everything away.
Based on the trailer, The Phoenician Scheme centers on a father-daughter duo that is sent on a wild journey to protect their generational wealth. The trailer is fast-paced and features the usual quirky humor and picturesque visuals that one would expect from a Wes Anderson film. His style has been debated to death on the internet. Some find it to be too one note while others are sucked in to his world no matter what. I come at it from the middle. I do think Anderson’s insistence on a certain style can hinder the story he wants to tell at times. Towards the middle of his career, it felt like Anderson was outgrowing what had made him so memorable. I think that he has remedied this with his last two releases, The French Dispatch and Asteroid City. He was able to stay true to himself while tackling more mature plot points and themes. The Phoenician Scheme seems to be continuing this trend.
Benicio Del Toro and Mia Threapleton star as a Billionaire and a nun, respectively. The stacked cast also includes Michael Cera, Richard Ayoade, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch, among others. Everyone seems to be playing to their highest abilities. Most of this cast are Anderson regulars, and you can tell how comfortable they are on his sets. The newcomers here, like Cera and Threapleton, are perfect for the Wes Anderson aesthetic and feel at home here. Ensemble casts are one of the hallmarks of a Wes Anderson film, and The Phoenician Scheme features one of his most eccentric casts yet.
One element I noticed in the trailer was a bit of a darker tone. This isn’t going to be Audition or anything crazy, but several moments in the trailer hint at a more violent film than we might be used to from Wes Anderson. The jokes seem a bit meaner, and we see killings in the trailer. Wes Anderson’s first few movies do have a sense of anger and edginess to them that has fizzled out over the years. The Phoenician Scheme could mark a return to this sensibility.
The Phoenician Scheme takes place in the 1940s and has a bit of an espionage tilt. It’s been fun to see Wes Anderson take on different genres and periods in his recent work. Now, a Wes Anderson espionage movie is not going to be your typical spy thriller, but adding some spy elements to the Anderson formula is a fun way to spice things up. The 1940s setting also allows for some visual cues that Wes has yet to play with. If the setting and genre as handled as carefully as the 1960s and science fiction were handled in Asteroid City, then count me all the way in!
Directed and written by Wes Anderson and starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Jeffrey Wright, The Phoenician Scheme will be in theaters on May 30, 2025.
