Prob­lemista – first-look review

Sur­re­al­ism has been on the rise in film­mak­ing the last few years, and the genre allows for a par­al­lel lens that helps cement the emo­tion­al weight of your sto­ry – Every­thing Every­where All At Once being just one, albeit very pop­u­lar, exam­ple. So, imag­ine my delight in enter­ing the world of Julio Tor­res’ Prob­lemista, a unique­ly fun­ny, delight­ful­ly whim­si­cal, and end­less­ly smart odyssey through art, con­nec­tion, and perseverance.

Best known as the cre­ator of the Los Espookys tele­vi­sion show, Tor­res’ direc­to­r­i­al debut fol­lows Ale­jan­dro or Ale, a Sal­vado­ran immi­grant (also played by Tor­res) who dreams of design­ing toys for Has­bro. Know­ing the fail­ings of the Amer­i­can immi­gra­tion sys­tem, it comes as no sur­prise that Ale’s work visa begins to run out before his dreams can be ful­ly real­ized. So what’s an aspir­ing toy design­er to do? His sal­va­tion seem­ing­ly comes in the form of an eccen­tric and brash art crit­ic named Eliz­a­beth (Til­da Swin­ton) who hires him for a job that – with a lit­tle bit of fren­zied effort and com­put­er cat­a­loging knowl­edge – becomes his own hope of stay­ing in New York City and ful­fill­ing his dreams.

Tor­res’ par­tic­u­lar brand of mag­i­cal real­ism is so self-assured and aware of its effect that the film ends up feel­ing a bit like a cousin or fam­i­ly mem­ber of The Daniels’ new­ly-crowned Best Pic­ture win­ner. In terms of its fierce con­fi­dence and unique approach to sto­ry­telling using sur­re­al­ism as its foun­da­tion, Prob­lemista feels just as strong and spe­cial as Every­thing Every­where All at Once, and it’s nice to see more film­mak­ers tak­ing these kinds of big swings. It also says a lot about Tor­res’ direc­to­r­i­al style, which is a bizarre and beau­ti­ful blend of dead­pan humor, quick cuts, and whim­si­cal imagery.

To the same end, Tor­res’ writ­ing plays just as much with sur­re­al­ism and absur­dism as his direc­tion. His script is at times enig­mat­ic, where your eyes and ears have to play catch up with one anoth­er to put the audi­to­ry and visu­al pieces togeth­er and ful­ly process the moment. But it’s also laugh-out-loud fun­ny from start to fin­ish, as well as aching­ly true to the strug­gles of immi­gra­tion, mak­ing your dreams come true at any cost, and the pow­er of the bonds we build in our most for­ma­tive moments. Tor­res writes with a lived expe­ri­ence that is unde­ni­able, as well as a broad and beguil­ing imag­i­na­tion that is impos­si­ble to not be charmed by.

Per­haps the best part of the film, though, is Tor­res’ char­ac­ters. From the cen­tral Ale and the utter­ly unpre­dictable Eliz­a­beth, to his apa­thet­ic room­mates and unfor­giv­ing for­mer boss, the film’s large cast of odd­balls per­fect­ly punc­tu­ate the par­tic­u­lar ver­sion of New York City Tor­res has in mind and even push it into fairy tale or almost mythos ter­ri­to­ry. The per­for­mances sell every­thing unique and spe­cial about Tor­res’ approach to this sto­ry, and they bring his char­ac­ters, who already feel so vibrant through their words, alive.

Prob­lemista is about mak­ing art of life no mat­ter what comes at you, and the com­bi­na­tion of inven­tive direc­tion, a spir­it­ed script, an incred­i­ble band of per­son­al­i­ties, and a won­der­ful­ly sur­re­al eye on it all is why that mes­sage comes through so clear­ly. Heart­felt from the first moments, Tor­res’ direc­to­r­i­al debut will undoubt­ed­ly stick with you and have you dream­ing of the odyssey of your own life – and, of course, how you hope to push through it like Ale­jan­dro does for himself.