PHOTO COURTESY OF TPS PRODUCTIONS / FOCUS FEATURES

Six years ago, “SNL” parodied the style of fastidious director Wes Anderson. Imagining what it would look like if Anderson turned his geometrically centered lens to horror, the sketch show presented a fake trailer for “The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders,” a deadpan home-invasion flick soundtracked by Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.”

Edward Norton — as Owen Wilson — describes the villains: “Look at ’em all! There’s a guy with a meat cleaver and an old record player. One’s carrying a falcon; there are twins in matching tracksuits.”

It’s an accurate parody of Anderson’s quirks and hallmarks.

You know what’s a better parody? Anderson’s latest film, “The Phoenician Scheme.”

His 12th film, “The Phoenician Scheme” concerns a ruthless industrialist, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), who is targeted by overly precious assassination attempts as a result of a lifetime of double-dealing. He has a plan to take over and profit from the development of the fictional country of Phoenicia; fearing that one attempt on his life will succeed, he loops his estranged daughter, a surly nun named Liesl (Mia Threapleton), in on his plans.

At all times, they’re accompanied by an expert entomologist (Michael Cera) who instructs Zsa-zsa on insect matters. A financing deal is secured via an underground basketball game with twin businessmen played by Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. Bill Murray turns up, in a vision, as God.

Now: If any of the previous three sentences appeared in a description of the “SNL” sketch, could you have told the difference?

While “The Phoenician Scheme” is intermittently funny — and Cera does fit into the hipster milieu quite well — it lacks any depth or resonance to offset its absurdity. The best Anderson films use heart to balance out the sometimes off-putting nature of his peccadillos; with del Toro’s deadpan erring decidedly on the dead side, there’s no feeling to be found.

It’s disappointing, particularly because Anderson’s previous film, 2023’s “Asteroid City,” was among his best. I’m left bewildered as to why the filmmaker decided to approach such a heavy topic as exploitative industry. A key plot point involves Liesl explaining to Zsa-zsa that he cannot deliberately starve a population to secure more favorable utility deals.

That makes it a lot harder to appreciate the meticulous design.

My Rating: 5/10

“The Phoenician Scheme” is now playing in theaters.