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As a longtime Wes Anderson fan, I can clearly see Wes is trying to break out of his usual style-this time, the framing is sometimes intentionally off-center, with dramatic shallow focus, unsteady camera moves, and his usual retro color palette mixed with some negative-like effects.

But the real problem is, Wes seems to have lost sight of the story he truly wants to tell. The film is visually meticulous, almost like stop-motion, but the plot is bland and lacks the spark of his early works. If I had to compare:

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a stunning, creative, and emotional royal feast;

"The French Dispatch" is like a beautifully crafted French cafe meal;

"Isle of Dogs" is fun, energetic comfort street food.

But "The Phoenician Scheme" feels like eating a mediocre banquet in a five-star hotel room-there's some enjoyment, but nothing feels essential, and honestly, it's not even that satisfying.

Wes's style and visuals alone are no longer enough to satisfy fans, let alone general audiences. Take "The Grand Budapest Hotel" again: what made its golden era so memorable was not just the sets or colors, but the deep humanity-the old prideful Gustave, the young poor refugee Zero, their respect for the hotel, and their fight for a last bit of justice on the eve of war. The sweet Mendel's pastries, the scarred girl Agatha, the entire decaying hotel-all these colorful elements had emotional weight. Without that core, a film becomes just empty characters chasing a painting in a fancy hotel-which is exactly what "The Phoenician Scheme" feels like.

The cast performances are excellent-maybe the only real highlight-but honestly, if Wes had skipped this film, I wouldn't have missed it as a fan. In fact, it made me nostalgic for his early works like "The Royal Tenenbaums," when his movies still had that raw, hippes', streetwise rock and roll spirit.

May be Parthenope is not the best, but I still think it might be my personal favorite among all of Sorrentino's films.

For me, it is not about history, religion, philosophy, or even family, but simply the story of a young goddess experiencing the beauty, love, desire and sorrow of life-a film that ultimately turns the gaze back to our everyone's own lives. So fragile, so nonsensical, so bizarre, so contradictory, so meaningless-yet still met with both smiles and tears in the face of reality... o forse non è così.

I don't see Parthenope as a "moralized lecture" that offers answers or explanations. On the contrary, it feels like a breathtaking and poetic piece of prose that touches me deeply.