The Phoenician Scheme

To be a fly on the wall of the Wes Anderson creative process must be quite some experience.

The ever-meticulous director must go through some Herculean effort to ensure his precise plots can all fit into his particular aesthetic and style.

His latest, The Phoenician Scheme, might just be his best work since the majestic The Grand Budapest Hotel (although a shout out here to the underrated The French Dispatch.)

Anderson is a 'Marmite' director and this doesn’t change the formula at all.

However, if you’re partial to his films, this is typically stacked with another quite-unbelievable cast, has the usual quippy and laugh-out-loud dialogue delivered at rapid pace and in deadpan mode and the ever-beautiful square formatting and impeccable design he also brings.

This film is helped by a relatively lean plot which, despite having a lot of depth, is mostly easy to digest and is tightly-focused. As aforementioned, its script is also razor-sharp at points.

It loses its way just a tad towards the end and throws up a few confusing elements but, if taken as the assumed metaphor of a trial of faith, its imagery and denouement work brilliantly.

Not one to turn doubters into believers but, for those who enjoy a bit of Wes, this is close to his top tier.

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