Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists and determined assassins. (from IMDb)

If there's any director whose entire body of work can be considered the definition of "an acquired taste," it's most certainly Wes Anderson. "Quirky" doesn't even begin to describe his movies, but he's been carving out a name for himself, surprising and captivating audiences since his first directorial effort, Bottle Rocket, 29 years ago. No other director has his style, and Wes Anderson's filmmaking approach has almost become a kind of "inside joke" in a way -- It's like, if you don't understand his movies or style, it's our fault.

I've seen a decent number of his movies through the years, even checking out a couple of his R-rated efforts through movie editing services many years ago. His live action movie I remember liking the most was probably 2004's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, but the director finally knocked one out of the park with me when he delivered his first stop-motion animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009. It's definitely quirky, but it's a brilliantly animated and beautifully delivered story. It's still quite fantastic 16 years later. Two years ago, Anderson delivered the star-studded live action film, Asteroid City, which was about as bizarre as they come. And while it sure was visually exciting, it seemed to drop the ball in several ways, especially when it came to storytelling.

Enter 2025's The Phoenecian Scheme. Another star-studded live action entry into his directorial catalog, The Phoenecian Scheme follows Benicio Del Toro's wealthy businessman, Zsa-zsa Korda, as he attempts to reunite with his only daughter, Leisl, a nun (played by Kate Winslet's real-life daughter, Mia Threapleton), to appoint her as his sole heir. He then unveils "The Phoenecian Scheme," an elaborate business venture that he needs to convince several other wealthy people to help fund. Along the way, Korda is continuously being threatened with murder, while struggling to reconnect with Leisl and convince her of his good intentions... all while unexpectedly finding himself on his own spiritual journey.

The Phoenecian Scheme has a lot going on with it. By now, Anderson's directorial style is so formulaic, that it's often amusing just to see how he sets up shots and delivers scenes. But the thing is, it's also quite artsy - in a good way - and while some of his other movies, arguably, feel like they get lost in the formula, The Phoenecian Scheme never stops delivering. His style only strengthens the movie here. Admittedly, I had a hard time following just exactly what was Korda's "scheme," but I'm not convinced Anderson was too worried about making it especially clear. It became pretty evident rather quickly that Korda was seeking out investors for his grand plan, and Leisl was brought along to start learning the ropes of his operation so she could eventually take over. But Korda's reputation was that of a shrewd businessman and philanderer, and he had the challenge of convincing Leisl that he cared for her (especially because she was under the impression that Korda was responsible for her mother's mysterious death).

While the details of the scheme are a little fuzzy - and the scope of his grand plan isn't revealed until the film's end - the dialog and stellar performances keep The Phoenecian Scheme worthy of our attention. It's deviously funny from start to finish, but most of that is stemmed from just how bizarre everything is - and del Toro's wonderful performance. The opening scene shows Korda on a private plane when he suddenly hears a faint explosion. We then see a big hole get punched into the side of the plane and his assistant, who was sitting in the back, get torn in half. Only his legs and waist remained in their seat with just a splatter of red blood against the wall behind him being all that remained of his upper body. It's shocking and gruesome, but Anderson also presents it in his usual, somewhat cartoony kind of way. Korda then seems confident enough to land the plane himself while still in the air, and then the scene cuts to the plane's burning wreckage on the ground, with a horribly wounded Korda limping away (and holding a blob against his clothed stomach that he tells a reporter is an organ he couldn't quite "get back in"). It's all pretty bonkers, but it's business as usual for Anderson.

From beautifully crafted sets to clever blocking and framing, to excellent use of light and color, and amusing human interactions, The Phoenecian Scheme is a fun film to watch. What you may or may not expect, though, is a spiritual theme to run throughout the film as well. (I'm about to get spoiler-y with some plot points in this paragraph, so consider yourself warned!) Korda's daughter, Leisl, is a nun, but one who seemed to pursue faith for unexpected reasons. She ends up greatly inspiring Korda spiritually, while Korda's interactions with her seem to impact her in a different way. With all of the attempts on Korda's life, he keeps having visions - if not literal trips to the afterlife - that cause him to rethink his way of life, and his surprising encounter with God at one point, has him verbally acknowledging Jesus as God's son. I definitely wasn't expecting that. (Also, who they cast as God is hysterical - if not entirely distracting - and if you know anything about what my favorite movie is, you can understand why I'd find the casting so amusing.) But there isn't really anything about The Phoenecian Scheme that feels evangelical. Leisl appears to actually leave the nun's life by the film's end, while Korda adopts a more humble way of life (including a sort of servanthood, if you will). There's enough spiritual content here to warrant discussion, however, and one could certainly see some negative messaging in there as well. But given how light all of the content in the whole movie is handled by Anderson, you probably would be fine taking everything The Phoenecian Scheme has to offer with a grain of salt.

The content for The Phoenecian Scheme is very PG-13, but in surprising ways. There isn't any sexual content outside of mentions of Korda's infidelities (and a couple other characters' infidelities as well), but we do see a painting done in a Renaissance style that shows a barechested woman - as a centaur? - being groped by a man from behind. The camera focuses on it a couple times, including when a young boy is staring at it. We also see a handful of books about sex with illustrated covers in a similar art style, and they're played for laughs. Profanity is kept to one use of the "S" word and three uses of "g*dd*mn," as well as 2 uses of "h*ll." (And some of those are barely heard when characters are shouting over each other.) The main content to be wary of would be some violence and violent imagery. The most intense is a scene where a character takes a bullet to the abdomen, and when he's lying on the floor, we watch as someone rips the person's shirt open and we see the bullet wound in their skin with blood streaming out. The camera lingers on the scene (in typical Anderson fashion) for a time, and then another character is asked to fish the bullet out of the wound. As a result, a character reaches their fingers into the wound and the bullet pops out into his fingers (with more blood dripping down the victim's side). Korda sustains many injuries throughout the movie and we often see scrapes and cuts on his face and body. The title sequence is an overhead shot of Korda in a bathtub with bandages on him from the opening plane crash, and we see some bloody cuts on his shoulders. We see characters with varying degrees of wounds during the movie, but the final most graphic moment shows a character blow themselves up using a grenade. It's a little surprising as well, but also shown in a sort of cartoony way. They explode into clothing debris and a fireball, with only their shoes remaining behind. (Also, a side note for some of you: Bjorn is an entomologist - a person who studies bugs - so the movie does focus on bugs in several scenes. During a montage later in the movie, we see Bjorn handling a large spider over a cubed box. A following shot shows the box at a different angle with the spider's legs sticking out of the top of it.)

If you're a fan of Wes Anderson's work, there's a good chance you'll enjoy The Phoenecian Scheme. I'd hardly call it an accessible film by any means, but I would say it's one of his better ones (of the ones that I've seen, that is). The characters are likeable, the visuals are lovely, the acting is superb, and the movie is definitely funny. (We actually had a good audience of clearly Anderson fans who seemed to really enjoy it as well.) While Fantastic Mr. Fox may be my best recommendation as an entry point into the director's work, The Phoenecian Scheme probably isn't a bad place to start, either.