Full of all of the whimsy, wonder, and weirdness of the work of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, Problemista is somehow still its own distinct thing, with all credit due to Julio Torres. Those two veteran filmmakers are wildly talented, but they could not have made this offbeat comedy that explores not only the New York art world but also the Latino immigrant experience in America. Problemista is wholly sourced from the wildly brilliant brain of writer, director, and star Torres (Los Espookys), with levels of specificity and absurdity all its own, from a running gag about FileMaker Pro to the physical, sentient expression of Craigslist in all its kookiness and kinks.
Just as we’d all want for our own stories on screen, Isabella Rosselini narrates the tale of Alejandro (Torres). He wants to work as a toy designer for Hasbro and receive sponsorship for a visa to stay in New York City rather than returning home to El Salvador where his artist mother (Catalina Saavedra) still resides. When he is fired from the cryogenics lab that had provided his work visa while he tries to pursue his dream, he has just one month to find a new job. Desperate to avoid deportation, Alejandro begins freelancing for Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), an art critic and the widow of the artist (Rza) whose frozen body he was tending at the lab. Elizabeth dangles the potential of visa sponsorship if he’ll help her create a show for her husband’s work, and Alejandro caters to every whim of his blowsy bitch of a boss as he sees his chances to stay in the U.S. slip away while his visa deadline approaches.
Alejandro is a true oddball, brimming with outlandish ideas for kids’ pastimes that might be better suited for the Island of Misfit Toys rather than a product made by a big-name company. (With its jokes about Hasbro, Problemista features the sharpest lampooning of a real-world toy brand since Barbie slyly took on Mattel.) Alejandro walks with a bouncy shuffle, confident in his creative potential but utterly at a loss for how to respond to Elizabeth’s outbursts and demands. This harridan is a New York nightmare, an entitled eccentric who still has currency through sheer force of will rather than any current cultural sway in the city or in the artistic world. I nearly had a panic attack watching her berate various people in services industries who can’t possibly meet her exacting standards.
My heart rate ticked even higher with each new nightmare in Alejandro’s attempts to make enough money to survive in New York City and file his paperwork to stay in the country. Problemista captures the Catch-22 of the immigrant experience and the near-impossibility of legal immigration for many people, recognizing the labyrinthine processes and the dehumanizing effects of the bureaucracy. The city is at once welcoming and entirely forbidding, offering seemingly endless opportunities for everyone but Alejandro.
Torres’s screenplay is simultaneously incisive and buoyant, never shying away from the difficulties Alejandro and real-life immigrants face but also full of deadpan humor, warmth, and oddities. Its tonal shifts will likely bother some viewers, but I found these part of its charms, reflecting the variety of individual experiences. Its charms don’t end there; Torres has made a movie replete with marvelous little details about these characters and their version of New York. The tendency of tech-averse Elizabeth to constantly have her phone’s flashlight on gave me the giggles every time I noticed it. It’s these types of grace notes that make for a delightful viewing experience.
Problemista is smart, sly, and so silly, balancing all its stresses and social commentary with a sense of wonder at the wild world and those who populate it. After working in television for almost a decade, Torres makes his feature debut as both a writer and director here – yet it feels fully formed and distinct, like a film you’d get from a director deeper in their cinematic career. Instead, Problemista marks the big-screen arrival of a talented weirdo with a voice all his own.
B+
“Problemista” is in theaters Friday.
