The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson’s latest directorial effort and one of the quirkiest movies to come out on the 2025 movie schedule, has a lot of things in common with the director’s best films. There are strained family relationships, a large cast featuring some of his most prolific collaborators, colorful sets, and violence. However, I didn’t expect the movie starring Benicio del Toro as a ruthless businessman would be that violent.
Though the movie had some shockingly violent moments (especially one scene on an airplane at the very beginning), I have to admit that the ridiculous injuries, brushes with death, numerous plane crashes, and various assassination attempts work quite well here. Here’s why…
The Phoenician Scheme, A Movie About The Attempts To Kill A Brutal Man, Needed Violence
I don’t want to give too much away for those who’ve yet to watch The Phoenician Scheme (it’s streaming with a Peacock subscription), but Wes Anderson’s latest movie centers on Anatole "Zsa-Zsa" Korda, a brutal business magnate played by Benicio del Toro, as he attempts to pull off a massive plan while also avoiding over-the-top assassination plots orchestrated by rival tycoons. It’s essentially an espionage movie, but in Anderson’s signature style and whimsy.
Again, it’s a violent movie with characters being blown apart by cartoonish sticks of dynamite, others getting shot (and having the bullet removed by hand), and all other sorts of mayhem. Though it threw me off a bit, a story like this needed it.
The Movie Still Has That Wes Anderson Charm, Which Creates Quite An Experience
This would be a wild experience if it was just a crime caper about a ruthless business magnate trying to put one final plan into motion before being killed, but what Anderson gives us is something much more than that. On top of the bloodshed and countless grenades being handed out as gifts and thrown around like balls of destruction, the movie also has the filmmaker's signature charm and sensibility, which creates a unique and fascinating cinematic experience.
The whimsical style does take away some of the drama of Korda coming face-to-face with death multiple times throughout the movie, but not enough to omit the sense of danger. In fact, these two elements compliment one another, adding another layer to this utterly ridiculous crime film.
Wes Anderson Is No Stranger To Violence, But This Took Things Up A Notch
There’s been no shortage of violence in the Texas-born filmmaker’s work over the years, with everything from his debut film, Bottle Rocket, to The Grand Budapest Hotel nearly 20 years later having blood, carnage, and lots and lots of guns. These movies, and pretty much everything else the director has released between and since, have all presented violence in a way that is somewhat comical, which takes away the blow or shocking nature to a degree.
However, when it comes to The Phoenician Scheme, things feel a little different. The intensity, the randomness, and the way violence is used to move the plot leads to the movie feeling more raw, unpredictable, and deadly at times. I keep going back to an early scene with a bomb on an airplane that legitimately took me by surprise.
All in all, The Phoenician Scheme was a hilarious, violent, and creative exploration of a complicated man with an even more complicated past. Though some scenes made me squirm, it’s an experience that works because of that violence.
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