Jay Rohr
Problemista is a fairytale about eggs. There’s how they hold potential, the mystery of what they could be juxtaposed against what society wants them to become, and the way every egg needs to break before it can let loose its best contents. This surreal tale from writer-director-star Julio Torres contains moving moments infused with humor. Yet, it never leaves the ground flying into the full on fantastical. As such, Problemista is a movie trying to tell itself more than one way, and consequently, never fully reaches its potential.
The story orbits Torres as Alejandro. He’s a mousy young person from El Salvador. An aspiring toymaker, he lives in fabled New York City. After losing his job at a cryogenic facility, overseeing the storage of a frozen artist’s remains, Alejandro desperately needs work, or he’ll soon be deported. Fortuitously, Elizabeth, the tumultuous wife of the frozen corpse he cared for, hires him. Though she’s a spiky hydra always looking for a fight, a unique understanding between them blossoms into an oddly charming relationship.
The film is partly an immigrant’s tale of striving for the proverbial American Dream. Yet, it’s also a coming-of-age adventure, while simultaneously a platonic love story about two people developing an intimate relationship only they could have. In fact, Problemista is a Venn diagram of themes. Though this gives the movie shades of complexity, it also means an occasional lack of focus.
One might argue that’s the chaos of existence. As one thematic notion, such as Alejandro’s deportation looms, issues with Elizabeth literally scream for his attention. Things are always vying for center stage, yet dealing with each crisis means ignoring something in the process. Problemista, though, doesn’t always feel like that’s entirely intentional. It’s more like an accidental inference possible because of a script juggling so much at once.
Part of this is because Problemista tends to have two protagonists. Though the initial focus begins with Alejandro, his character quickly takes a backseat to the domineering presence of Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth. She’s a force of one, the living embodiment of eccentric, and despite being frequently abrasive, some amazing acting conveys an individual shrieking in terror more than fury. The world is not what she wants, and rather than accept that, Elizabeth is all tooth and claw, wrestling reality into the shape she desires. For a moment, the movie veers towards a character study observing her with this wide-eyed Salvadorian Fievel caught in her wake.
Eventually, though, Problemista remembers Alejandro’s dilemmas are the focal point of the film. Julio Torres does a wonderful job portraying a person learning the advantages of having a few fangs. Although the character struggles, this slender harvest mouse often seems more like a child than an adult. He’s usually carried along by events more than making choices. That means most of the movie is watching someone slowly realize dreams don’t come true, people make them come true. More cynical viewers may find it difficult to initially connect with the character as he wanders into fields of barbed wire wondering why no one cut them for him, metaphorically speaking. Perhaps this portrayal is because it makes certain satirical set ups easier.
And Problemista contains a lot of attempts at satire, most of which are heavy-handed. The problem is its satire rarely takes aim at anything fresh. Criticizing the byzantine bureaucracy and baroque rules of immigration, seemingly designed so immigrants fail, is hardly new. Though an extended bit about bank policy essentially being a kind of veiled theft is accurate and a tad humorous, it’s like calling water wet. Audiences likely to be sympathetic to Alejandro’s situation are probably already aware of these criticisms. The issue being Problemista sets up a situation then has a character do nothing very interesting with it outside of surreal displays like an Escher-esque maze.
It’s moments which don’t get blunt monologues or ham-fisted surrealism that comes across more interesting. For instance, the immigration law firm Alejandro employs doesn’t have anyone on staff who speaks a foreign language, let alone Spanish. There’s more punch in such moments than the grand scenes wailing for attention.
Still, for a first-time director, Julio Torres shows potential. Hints of anime influences can be seen on screen, especially the way characters look. Yet, there isn’t a lot of exciting cinema. Competently shot, most of the energy in Problemista, even when delving into the surreal, comes from its performances.
That said, fine acting can’t fix certain elements. Isabella Rossellini does well as the film’s narrator. However, her role mostly spoon feeds the audience. She delivers occasional punchlines, but these aren’t always funny. Even though the narration fits with the notion of Problemista as a modern fairytale, the narrator doesn’t lead the narrative so much as distrust the audience’s ability to get the film’s myriad points. Those details aren’t hard to miss with characters like Larry Owens as the living embodiment of Craigslist lacking subtlety.
Still, with her tirades colored by a vaguely West Country accent, Tilda Swinton is captivating throughout. Julio Torres perfectly displays a person gradually realizing life is composed of moments aggressively seized. The two embody a central notion of art as avoidance, almost a selfish abandonment of reality. Yet, their performances and chemistry forge a charming relationship conveying the importance of human connection.
At times, Problemista seems timid as if uncertain whether to dive more deeply into its surrealist potential. The overall feel is a film with bolder intentions tentatively taking those first steps towards creative grandeur. In that respect, the movie oddly mirrors its own protagonist’s journey. Problemista is essentially the first film of what could be a promising career for Julio Torres, seen in small doses on Saturday Night Live. Granted, its satire can be as dull as someone bringing up a dead topic at a dinner party. However, every creative with a definite vision starts somewhere.
I’m curious to see what comes next. For now, there’s a charming film full of strange optimism. Problemista shares a familiar fairytale about growth and connection interestingly contemporized.
