The Phoenician Scheme ending explained: Does Korda succeed with his master plan?

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme is every bit the pastel-painted fever dream you'd expect from the director, but this time, he trades whimsy for something darker, twistier, and oddly heartfelt. Set in the haze of mid-century global politics, the film dives into a web of espionage, betrayal, and moral accounting, all with a wink and a meticulously framed shot. But if you walked out of the theater feeling both charmed and slightly confused, you’re not alone.

Let’s just say the ending isn’t just about what happens, it’s about what it means. About legacy, self-worth, and whether redemption can ever be more than a pretty word. If you found yourself blinking at the screen as the credits roll, wondering what it all added up to, then you're in luck. Here's what the ending of The Phoenician Scheme means and how it portrays the theme of redemption.

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What is The Phoenician Scheme about?

The film takes place in 1950, following arms dealer and infrastructure tycoon Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda, who narrowly escapes yet another attempt on his life after someone thoughtfully sabotages his plane. After surviving death so many times, Korda decides it’s time for a legacy handover; he calls in his only daughter among nine sons, the devout and skeptical Sister Liesl, to see if she’s got the stomach for empire-building.

Meanwhile, Norwegian entomologist Bjørn, hired to help Korda with his sudden obsession with bugs, accidentally becomes his assistant. Korda, dubbed “Mr Five Per Cent” for skimming profits from nearly every international deal, has enemies. Enter Excalibur, a shady global cabal trying to tank his master plan to revamp Phoenicia’s infrastructure by rigging the price of washable rivets.

To plug what he dramatically calls “The Gap” in funding, Korda embarks on a chaotic money-gathering quest. He plays basketball with rogue contractors, survives a guerrilla raid at a nightclub, negotiates through a literal blood transfusion on a yacht, and proposes to Cousin Hilda. She says yes to the ring, but refuses to take part in the gap.

With assassins, revolutionaries, and disappointed ex-partners around every corner, Korda is forced to confront his past and call upon his worst option yet—his villainous brother Nubar, whom he once accused of killing Liesl’s mom and possibly being her real dad. Light family drama.

Through it all, Liesl and Bjørn observe the madness with equal parts horror and affection. As explosions, betrayals, and existential dread unfold around them, the question remains: Will Korda finally close the Gap, or will the Gap close over him?

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Does Korda successfully close the Gap?

So, the party’s flying high for their final meeting until boom, the plane crashes and shocks follow. Bjørn’s exposed as an undercover American agent working for the consortium, but plot twist: he’s actually team Korda and Liesl now. Guerilla Force leader Sergio and his crew swoop in like heroes, saving everyone just in time.

Back home, Liesl’s all ready to take her vows, but the Mother Superior drops the bomb: she’s off the hook, free from her old life. Meanwhile, at a shady syndicate meet, Nubar throws a curveball; he’s been the mastermind behind attempts on Korda’s life, refuses to fund the Gap project, and decides to take out his own brother himself. Drama! But Korda, ever the slick one, fights back with some poison gas and takes Nubar down.

This fight shakes Korda to his core. Suddenly, he’s all in on covering the Gap himself, even if it means blowing his entire fortune. Plus, he promises fair wages, no more slave labor. No more exploitation of workers.

The project’s noble but bankrupts Korda. He and Liesl return to his grand old mansion, only to sell it off to fund the Gap project. What they get in return is a much smaller, humbler home. It becomes home not just to them, but to Korda’s pack of chaotic young sons, who now look up to Liesl like a big sister with a heart of gold.

Korda channels his past life into the kitchen, running a bistro where Liesl works as a waitress. One afternoon, during a quick break, Carlson nervously pulls out an engagement ring, the very one Cousin Hilda returned to Korda ages ago. She accepts. The film ends on a cozy note as they work at the bistro together, far poorer than they have ever lived, but still having the company of each other and a newfound relationship.

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The theme of redemption in The Phoenician Scheme

The theme of redemption is heavy in The Phoenician Scheme and echoes through the ending's atmosphere. Korda begins as a cold, calculating tycoon, chasing power like it’s oxygen. But after surviving death (literally), betraying his brother, and falling for the kind-hearted Liesl, something inside him cracks, beautifully. He abandons unethical labor, chooses to fund the Gap with his own fortune, and walks away from his toxic marriage. Redemption doesn’t come with applause; it comes with quiet. As he works at the bistro, it’s not the life he built, it’s the life he earned. Stripped of ego, he finds peace in simplicity. And that’s everything.

Benicio del Toro, who plays Korda, himself spoke about his character and the changes Korda went through in the film as he opened up in a press conference and said,

"I think that there is an element of my character wanting a second chance at mending a broken relationship. I think that in the process, in order to achieve that, he has to change, and he does change. I like to think that people can change. Not everyone changes, but I think some people can and for the better. I think that there is an element to that and thanks to the relationship with his daughter, that's something that the movie has. It moves me when I see it."

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The Phoenician Scheme is available in theaters.