Writer/Director/Star Julio Torres' "Problemista" is a concoction that's equal parts surrealism, magical realism and outright whimsy.
Born in El Salvador, Torres moved to New York City to attend The New School. He was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" from 2016-2019 and Creator/Writer/Star of HBO's "Los Espookys" (2018-2022). Several members of the "Los Espookys" supporting cast appear in this film.
Many elements of "Problemista" are autobiographical. Torres stars as Alejandro, a young man who has recently arrived in New York City from El Salvador. Alejandro aspires to work at Hasbro to create new, odd versions of Barbie and the Cabbage Patch Kids. While trying to secure his work visa, Alejandro is fired from his job at FreezeCorp, where he was overseeing the remains of the freeze-dried, err, cryogenically maintained, artist Bobby. Bobby's widow Elizabeth takes on Alejandro as an unpaid assistant. Elizabeth will sponsor his visa application, so long as Alejandro helps her curate an exhibition of Bobby's paintings. As the ever-present narrator, Isabella Rossellini ("Marcel the Shell with Shoes On") provides the calm, thoughtful exposition that helps the moviegoer navigate this maze of odd events.
Torres uses his platform to point out the insanity of the immigration system he endured. For example, Alejandro is required to submit a $6000 filing fee with his visa application even though it's against the law for him to work in the US without, wait for it, acquiring a visa. Torres uses sand flowing through hourglasses to depict the plight of immigrants enmeshed in this Kafkaesque waiting process. When an hourglass runs out, it - and presumably the visa applicant - simply disappears. Throughout the film, Alejandro shuffles around on tiptoes, presumably terrified of doing anything to upset the delicately balanced craziness of his visa application or the surreal world he inhabits.
There's also some time spent sympathetically depicting what it's like to be a gig worker trying to survive in NYC. Along the way, the New York art community takes a couple of well-deserved broadsides.
In the role of Elizabeth, Tilda Swinton is likely to induce PTSD in any moviegoer who's ever had an unreasonable boss. Elizabeth rails about service in restaurants and about service from Apple. For no apparent reason, she spends a lot of time obsessing about the virtues of Filemaker Pro (it's a real thing), which Elizabeth believes is essential to properly organizing and curating her deceased husband's paintings. Eggs are the subject all of Bobby's paintings. His entire collection includes thirteen works. Elizabeth is labelled "the hydra" because she creates two additional problems every time she addresses an issue. She's a total maniac, but she also believes in Alejandro, in her own demented way, and suggests he should take up for himself a little more.
This is hardly a perfect film. The connections among the various scenes in the film can sometimes be tenuous. At points, Swinton's character feels like fingernails on a blackboard. The surrealism regularly injected into the story will be off-putting for many (include me in that group). Even so, "Problemista" is an ambitious feature film debut for a writer/director well on his way to fully finding his voice.
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