Settling in to watch an A24 film starring a magenta-locked Tilda Swinton alongside up-and-coming multi-hyphenate Julio Torres, the expectations are clear. Billed as an “absurdist satire”, we’re primed for something distinctly weird.
Problemista largely lives up to its oddball hype, however there’s a sense that this roast of both US immigration policy and the New York art scene could benefit from leaning into the weirdness a touch more.
Don’t get me wrong, things certainly do get freaky. Torres, who is the director, producer and screenwriter of this film, plays Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador whose dominant characteristic is extreme levels of sincerity. He pitches his ‘quirky’ ideas to Hasbro in the hopes of being accepted into the company’s talent incubator program – think a slinky that doesn’t want to hop down the stairs, a Barbie with her fingers crossed behind her back, and a Cabbage Patch Kid toting a smartphone.
Shockingly, these creative ideas don’t get him hired immediately, so an expiring work visa emergency immediately ensues. Just as Alejandro begins to panic about his future in the United States, in walks the most nightmarishly aggressive, widowed former art critic you’ve ever seen. Elizabeth (played by Swinton) takes Alejandro under her razor sharp wing and the two form an unlikely symbiotic bond.
From Elizabeth’s obsession with honouring the legacy of her cryogenically frozen husband (rapper RZA), to her refusal to keep up with modern technology (and propensity to call Apple on the telephone at the slightest roadblock), she is defined by living in the past. Alejandro, on the other hand, lives in his own imagination.
This contrasting pair is a perfect match for the film’s magical realist stylings, where fractured flashbacks of the NYC art crowd are interspersed with hilarious dips into the young toy designer’s whacky inner world. The Craigslist genie granting Alejandro his wishes for ways to score some extra cash is a highlight, however it whetted our appetite for even more camp fantasy that didn’t fully eventuate.
Come for an infuriating yet feel-good odd couple story with a hint of political satire, just don’t expect anything too challenging.
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