I’m sure that there might come a time when I’m disappointed with a Wes Anderson film, but this was just the surrealist storytelling that I have been needing these days. And I knew that I would need at least two viewings of this film before commenting on it. Mission accomplished. 

On my first viewing I felt like the young protagonist, Liesl, played by Mia Threapleton, was written for Scarlett Johansson, but I guess Johansson has aged out of playing the role of a teenager. The deadpan back and forth dialogue with Del Toro’s Zsa-Zsa Korda feels reminiscent of her role in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023). 

Wes Anderson is such a genre bending film maker, it can be challenging to grasp the point or possible message behind his films. In a world where everyone else is stuck making remake after remake after remake, his films are beautiful stage plays freed from the constraints of what could be done with a live audience, yet shot with only practical effects and little to no CGI, just pure imagination on display. It’s serious comedy with characters asking serious questions of themselves and their motivations, and where God makes an appearance and plays a “which hand is it in?”game with Korda. There is a message there, but it might take some actual thought and reflection to get there. I had to watch the movie twice to better appreciate this world that Wes Anderson presented. To paraphrase a character, “It’s almost Biblical.” Enjoy. 

[Movie viewed at Cinemark Orleans on 2025-06-10 and at AMC Town Square on 2025-06-23]

Bonus Video: Wes Anderson Trilogy

I stumbled onto this interesting take on the last three Wes Anderson films that you might also find interesting. Please note that much of it won’t really make as much sense unless you’ve already seen The Phoenician Scheme. So, see the film and then come back and view this video. I was also thinking of linking to my reviews of the previous two films, but I guess I wasn’t sharing longer reviews of the films I watched back when the two films came out. Damn. Well, enjoy anyway. [SPOILERS!!]

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Tags: 2025 movies, movie review, storytelling, video Fridays, Wes Anderson 

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