When A24 decided to market Problemista, they chose to emphasize its idiosyncrasies, as if writer-director Julio Torres was a Gen Z Charlie Kaufman. This seems to be the best way for any indie distributor looking to sell the work of a young artist whose vision is as singular as Torres. Problemista is less Being John Malkovich, and more Frances Ha if written by Ethan Coen. That is to say, there isn’t really an antecedent for what Torres is doing here, though the movie is more than happy to help you find one. The first-time filmmaker is telling a story close to autobiography, but the narrative is littered with visual absurdities and ventures into surreality. It is, matter of factly, a portal into his mind, and with most exciting directors, this portal offers us a glimpse of something we’ve never seen.
Torres was a writer on Saturday Night Live, which is where he met Emma Stone, who’s a producer on this film. One would be pressed to find a mainstream Hollywood benefactor better than Stone, especially after she just won her second Oscar, but Problemista‘s release – originally slated for August 2023 – was delayed due to the strikes, only to get released in March of 2024 with close-to-no fanfare. This was never going to be the easiest film to push. Its star is new, its comedy is tinged with harsh socioeconomic realties, and it’s biggest name actor (Tilda Swinton) is playing one of the most unpleasant characters that one can imagine. It’s a testament to Torres’s skills that the film finds a certain alchemy that makes it all quite pleasant, including the always brilliant Swinton.
Swinton plays Elizabeth, the widow of an artist (RZA) who recently died and had his body cryogenically frozen. Alejandro (Torres) is a struggling Salvadorian immigrant who works with the company overseeing her husband’s frozen body. Alejandro’s real dream is to build toys at Hasbro, but they still haven’t accepted him into their beginners’ program. His toy pitches are all existential twists on classic ideas – Barbies with one hand behind their back, Cabbage Patch dolls anxiously waiting for texts. When he loses his job at the cryogen lab, the clock starts ticking on his work visa. Find a job and find a sponsor in thirty days or back to El Salvador he goes. It’s Elizabeth who offers Alejandro his best chance of keeping his status in the US, but stability is not her strong suit, and she refuses to commit unless Alejandro agrees to put together an art show of her late husband’s work.
Elizabeth’s abrasive personality and erratic behavior has made her an outcast in the New York art community. She’s quick to argument, catastrophizing the smallest issues for dubious reasons. The enthusiasm that first greets Alejandro quickly turns to acidic neediness and panicked aggression. She either fails to comprehend the gravity of Alejandro’s situation or chooses to dangle the possibility of his deportation over his head at all times. Either way, she keeps her new young friend under her thumb as she plans to give her husband’s obscure paintings the breakthrough she thinks they deserve. Meanwhile, Alejandro is forced to take secondary jobs to get enough cash to keep living, even subletting the room is his apartment and sleeping on the couch.
Torres’s script, consistently hilarious and darkly clever, struggles to find a point, and isn’t confident enough to admit that it doesn’t really have one (other than platitudes about the elliptical nature of luck). When it tries to compensate by going for sincerity in its third act, it feels ill-fitting. Problemista is at its best when it leans into the ludicrous nature of its main character’s perspective. The way Alejandro softens his traumas by reenvisioning them as sprite cinematic trifles is not a new movie conceit, but Torres finds unique ways to surprise you as the film goes along, never settling for what you might expect. At its worst, Problemista feels like an SNL digital short writ large – a funny idea stretched thin – but at its best, this is an exciting comedic vision. Young directors who have legitimate talent for comic timing are becoming more and more rare.
One last word on Swinton, an actress whose reputation for excellence is only exceeded by her indefinable virtuosity. It’s astounding that in a career marked by unmatched curiosity and chameleonic range, she still manages to pull out such unexpected performances so consistently. Every film presents a different color you didn’t know she possessed on her palette. If you watch Problemista and consider any other actor playing the part of Elizabeth, and it might be irredeemable. A woman so grating and uncouth, Swinton manages to keep her grief hinting at the edges. A subtle, gentle reminder of the glimmer of humanity within this monstrous person. This isn’t even in the top half of Swinton’s greatest performances, but watching her tear into a role like this reminds you that great acting can often feel like a miracle.
Written and Directed by Julio Torres