User Reviews

Have you ever had to deal with the red tape involved in immigrating to another country? Was that other country the US? It clearly was for writer/director Julio Torres who details in fantastical fashion the bonkers policies we have in place for immigrants who, quote, follow the rules, unquote and try and make it in America.

But as a I say, this is a fantastical depiction so the narrative is not a straight forward story and really, why would you want that? Let's leave the hard hitting news piece with jokes stuff to John Oliver.

Problemista is the most creative and funny movie I've seen so far this year and I hope folks check it out. It's really good.

Really enjoyed this movie. It really takes a good look at life and shows how some aspects are so absurd if we really look at them. It had great humor and some really enjoyable moments between the characters. Actors and performances were really great too. There were a few scenes that I felt didn't work all that well and took me out of the story a bit, but overall is was really fun and I'm glad I was able to see it. Just funny and uplifting.. with personal challenges along the way. Visual style was unique and interesting. Did feel like a cable indie TV show sometimes.. but that worked with the style of the movie. I look forward to seeing more work from Julio Torres.

After losing his job, Alejandro must find a new employer to sponsor his visa. At the same time, he awaits his dream job, designing toys. With limited options, he freelances for a woman who is difficult with everyone and is trying to sell her frozen husband's paintings to fund his continued cryogenesis. Alejandro is willing to do anything to achieve his dream, even working for a "Karen."

This film has different themes, depending on which character you focus on. There are many cringy and frustrating parts, but the overall experience is satisfying. The film takes a unique approach to the complicated immigration system in America. The film also touches on the concept of being difficult or a "Karen," which is intriguing. This is an interesting watch if you are looking for something unique that touches on societal topics.

I came in expecting a fun, wild, and interesting experience and this movie delivered ten fold. It was one of the best movies that I have seen in theaters in a long time and has one of my all time favorite performances by the ice queen herself, Tilda Swinton. My date and I laughed, we cringed, we were captivated, and at the end we were both crying tears of joy. It was heartfelt, surreal and a rare pleasure for us both. Tilda is both the villain and a sort of hero as well. We were both very impressed with the acting, writing and directing all of which were spearheaded by Julio Torres. I can't recommend this movie enough.

Isn't it amazing how failures can often lead to unexpected successes? Those missteps frequently have a way of opening meaningful doors, even if it doesn't seem that way at the time they occur. But how readily are we aware that such developments can occur? Such is the whirlwind experience of Alejandro Martinez (Julio Torres), a young, idealistic, inventive Salvadoran toy designer who emigrates to New York in search of a job in an incubator program at a major American toy manufacturer. But, to apply for the position, he must be present stateside, which means he needs a work visa to reside here long enough to make his pitch. That possibility seems to evaporate, though, when he loses his job as a client curator at a cryogenics company. Fortunately, however, as he's making his exit from the workplace, he meets and befriends a flamboyant art critic (Tilda Swinton) upset with the way the cryogenics company is handling the care of her late partner (RZA), an eccentric artist known for specializing in paintings of eggs. To raise funds for the painter's curation, she wants to stage an exhibition of his work but needs help to pull it off, which is where Alejandro enters the picture. He volunteers to assist with staging the show in exchange for her sponsorship so that he can obtain a new work visa to stay in the US. It sounds like a simple, straightforward arrangement, but, as he soon finds out, that's far from the case, as he launches into a wild and crazy odyssey filled with any number of outlandish personal and professional incidents, many of them ludicrous and comical yet surprisingly beneficial. This debut feature from actor-writer-director Torres tells an unconventional yet hilarious and insightful story of commitment, empowerment and imagination filled with colorful characters and enigmatic situations. Its clever production design, imaginative cinematography, and inclusion of surreal and symbolic sequences makes for an edgy yet entertaining watch, an impressive first offering from the former Saturday Night Live staff writer. While there are some instances where the narrative tends to become a little too outrageously self-satisfied for its own good, the bulk of the film stays on course and features an array of fine performances from Torres, Swinton and a host of supporting players. "Problemista" was originally scheduled for release in summer 2023 but was delayed by the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, as this delightfully quirky offering shows, the wait was indeed worth it, as it often is for those who encounter seemingly endless snafus on the way to achieving their greatness. If you're fond of the irreverent, as I am, you'll get a kick out of this one, an engaging tale that both enlightens and entertains while giving your mind a lot to play with.

Julio Torres, for his first debut, manages to create one of the weirdest, chaotic, and unapologetically narrative that is really great with it's electrifying atmosphere, writing, direction, and approach. Torres writing delivers one of the most activating, surrealist, intentional cringe-like and hilarious stories with interesting satirical themes of art, immigration, companies, and the world we live inside. With beautiful camerawork, production designs, framing, and structure pacing.

All of the performances are great and Tilda Swinton, my god, she gave one of the absolute best and insane performances of her entire career as she is chaotic, insane, yet, so engaging to observe. Many of the chaotic tones, humor, and characters were hilarious and surreal to observe. It's one strange debut of a movie that I can't think anyone else could ever do. Overall, it's amazing. It's a shame that the marketing of this movie wasn't great cause it deserves more attention!

Writer/Director/Star Julio Torres' "Problemista" is a concoction that's equal parts surrealism, magical realism and outright whimsy.

Born in El Salvador, Torres moved to New York City to attend The New School. He was a writer on "Saturday Night Live" from 2016-2019 and Creator/Writer/Star of HBO's "Los Espookys" (2018-2022). Several members of the "Los Espookys" supporting cast appear in this film.

Many elements of "Problemista" are autobiographical. Torres stars as Alejandro, a young man who has recently arrived in New York City from El Salvador. Alejandro aspires to work at Hasbro to create new, odd versions of Barbie and the Cabbage Patch Kids. While trying to secure his work visa, Alejandro is fired from his job at FreezeCorp, where he was overseeing the remains of the freeze-dried, err, cryogenically maintained, artist Bobby. Bobby's widow Elizabeth takes on Alejandro as an unpaid assistant. Elizabeth will sponsor his visa application, so long as Alejandro helps her curate an exhibition of Bobby's paintings. As the ever-present narrator, Isabella Rossellini ("Marcel the Shell with Shoes On") provides the calm, thoughtful exposition that helps the moviegoer navigate this maze of odd events.

Torres uses his platform to point out the insanity of the immigration system he endured. For example, Alejandro is required to submit a $6000 filing fee with his visa application even though it's against the law for him to work in the US without, wait for it, acquiring a visa. Torres uses sand flowing through hourglasses to depict the plight of immigrants enmeshed in this Kafkaesque waiting process. When an hourglass runs out, it - and presumably the visa applicant - simply disappears. Throughout the film, Alejandro shuffles around on tiptoes, presumably terrified of doing anything to upset the delicately balanced craziness of his visa application or the surreal world he inhabits.

There's also some time spent sympathetically depicting what it's like to be a gig worker trying to survive in NYC. Along the way, the New York art community takes a couple of well-deserved broadsides.

In the role of Elizabeth, Tilda Swinton is likely to induce PTSD in any moviegoer who's ever had an unreasonable boss. Elizabeth rails about service in restaurants and about service from Apple. For no apparent reason, she spends a lot of time obsessing about the virtues of Filemaker Pro (it's a real thing), which Elizabeth believes is essential to properly organizing and curating her deceased husband's paintings. Eggs are the subject all of Bobby's paintings. His entire collection includes thirteen works. Elizabeth is labelled "the hydra" because she creates two additional problems every time she addresses an issue. She's a total maniac, but she also believes in Alejandro, in her own demented way, and suggests he should take up for himself a little more.

This is hardly a perfect film. The connections among the various scenes in the film can sometimes be tenuous. At points, Swinton's character feels like fingernails on a blackboard. The surrealism regularly injected into the story will be off-putting for many (include me in that group). Even so, "Problemista" is an ambitious feature film debut for a writer/director well on his way to fully finding his voice.

I was lucky enough to screen Problemista last night in Miami Beach with Julio Torres present at the end for a Q&A. I was pleasantly surprised-the story "made sense", flowed and was well told through the characters in a way that was fresh and surprising to most audience members (people were gasping and laughing out loud together).

I have a habit of making mental tick-marks when there's something seen or said that doesn't make sense when watching movies. The more I notice, the less I walk away feeling satisfied by the work. I really only had one: the scene where we see a red purse stuck in a NYC subway door-it's owner apparently walked out and their purse got stuck in the door- and 3 prescription bottles drop out onto the subway car floor. But nothing happens with the purse or the pill bottles (?) What was that about?

If I'm still thinking and talking about a film the day after is, for me, the true test if it was a great film. I can't seem to shut up about Problemista to co-workers, friends and family.

Both my husband and I keep texting and talking about the film today. It was nice to have Julio there in person afterwards for the Q&A. He was relaxed, focused and engaging. Great film, lots of fun.

Problem nr 1: it aint really funny. It wants to be quirky and weird and really tries hard to deliver the jokes, but they just dont land, they just dont make me laugh. Not even an smirk.

Problem nr 2: the chaotic and disjointed storyline just left me behind feeling disappointed and confused.

Problem nr 3: the actors. I am a HUGE fan of Tilda Swinton and because of this I had been waiting for months for this movie to be released. And I must admit that her performance just did not impress me. Not bad for sure, but a bit over the top.

The leading actor however was really mediocre (at best), which was quite annoying because the entire story evolved around him and him alone.

Not recommended, not even for the Tilda Swinton fans, of which I am one.

It's clear that Julio Torres poured his heart and soul into this film. I've always like Torres' humor and perspective since his SNL days, but worried it wouldn't translate into a well rounded and fulfilling feature lengthy story.

That was anything but the case. This film caught me by surprise. It was not only hilarious and quirky and avant-hard, like I expected, but it was moving and meaningful and satisfying from start to finish.

He's also great in it and a character your really root for. Tulsa Swinton is so amazing in her best part in years.

Definitely would recommend to pretty much anyone!

The other review i wrote was taken down, so i guess someone can't take the criticism... maybe it wasn't constructive enough :-?

Why do i need to add my 2 cents? Because it boggles the mind that this has so many positive reviews and a 7.5 rating!?

The 2 talented actors (Tilda and Isabella) are wasted here to stroke the ego and gives focus to the mediocrity of its "star, writer, director." You want to sympathesize for the central characters (Alejandro) plight of gaining residency through all the legal trappings in the USA but who you ultimately feel sorry for in the end is his mom.

The question you'll keep asking yourself while watching this is why? Why does Alejandro act that way? Why does Alejandro want to work at Hasbro? Why doesnt Alejandro think of better toy ideas? Why doesnt Alejandro take that paralegal job and help his mom gain US citizenship and explore her creativity instead?

Problemista tries too hard to be quirky and weird that its just off putting. There's not a single character that you root for in this hogwash.

This film was an excruciating experience. It centers on the desperate plight of an immigrant needing visa sponsorship to remain in the US, who dreams of becoming a toy designer.

Laden with cringe-inducing, soul-sapping dialogue and abysmal attempts at humor, this movie inflicts sheer torment on its audience. I had to abandon it after an excruciating hour, as I could no longer subject myself to such unbearable agony.

It's unclear whether the director, who also casts himself in the lead role, habitually walks like a Japanese geisha in real life, but he certainly does in this film. Alongside him, the woman who employs him exhibits frantic, neurotic behaviour, further destabilising the already weak narrative.

Watching this movie felt akin to enduring an episode of the Teletubbies... utterly painful.

Two hours of cringe-worthy jokes and painful dialogue that felt like four. Five minutes in, you yearn for the ending credits.

Attempts at whimsy (which involve Shakespearean exchanges in fantasy land) feel forced and awkward. You aren't transported into another world but instead painfully aware you're watching a bad movie.

Despite a decent cast and positive core message about overcoming obstacles to immigration, there's little to like about the characters. Tilda Swinton's nails-on-chalkboard persona is bad. The juvenile, shuffle-walking Torres is worse. In the end, nobody is really redeemed. Catch something else and spare yourself the agony.

This comedy movie was a disaster from start to finish. It felt like the comedian recycled his stale jokes from the past eight years into a two-hour film. There was no visual translation that didn't induce cringing. His jokes might work on stage because the audience can use their imagination, but on screen, they fell flat, like props in a Terry Gilliam fever dream. He's a better stand-up writer and storyteller than an actor. The movie was forced, slow, and pretentious. I'd give it a 2 out of 10, acknowledging the effort it took for a Salvadoran migrant to break into Hollywood, but even migrant tragedies have evolved, while his humor hasn't aged well, especially when translated to the big screen.

Julio Torres has been presenting his comedy to the public for about eight years now, and I've been a fan of his work for almost all of that period. I was happy to see PROBLEMISTA in theaters even though I knew it would lack the spectacle and the crowd that usually drives me to the theater these days. About half an hour in, my inner voice was reasoning to myself, "Well, it's good you're here in the theater because if you were watching this at home, you'd have probably turned it off by now"-as though feeling obligated to finish something unpleasant all the way through to its bitter end is somehow a good thing. I watched the whole movie and I do not feel the wiser for it. Torres has recycled his earlier bits into something less alive, and his debut film makes me fear that he should stick to shortform comedy.

For someone only vaguely familiar with Torres's work, some of these bits will probably feel fresh, but I couldn't help feeling that most of the scenes were uninspired imitations of bits he did years ago. In some of his earliest standup, he talked about the desperation of turning to Craigslist to find income. He tells the same story here, but in a rushed manner that lacks the "stranger than fiction" relatability of his original material. On SNL, his "Wells for Boys" sketch found immense charm in a very specific portrayal of a daydreaming, sensitive boy; Problemista is bookended with what seems like a more autobiographical spin on this, but with a story and images that failed to connect. Torres's Instagram turns toys and small objects into full-fledged personalities that are loveably annoying, and his object-oriented HBO special MY FAVORITE SHAPES likewise is able to spin an entire surreal universe out of narrating stories about inanimate props. His character in Problemista is likewise supposed to possess this gift, but what we see in the film comes across as idiotic rather than wondrous; his running gag about Cabbage Patch kids with smartphones simply isn't very funny, and his idea for a Slinky that requires constant supervision likewise comes across as inane rather than innovative. The dead painter Bobby who is central to the film's plot is also meant (I think) to inspire audiences to see the world with the infinite imagination of a child, yet the egg portraits that comprise his life's work are likewise a dud, never coming across as anything more than a pretentious lack of talent.

Finally, there is the character of Tilda Swinton, who (I presume) is the Problemista of the title. Torres's SNL sketches about Melania Trump were a tour de force; a sketch in which she builds a loving friendship with a Pakistani Amazon call center employee played by Kumail Nanjiani is easily one of the best things ever aired by SNL. Cecily Strong's Melania was entitled, demanding, and dangerously powerful but also desperate, yearning, and akin to Dark Romantic poets like William Blake and Lord Byron in her gloomy and barbed lust for life. His Melania was a Gorgon, a lonely victim of her own monstrous power, as dangerous as she was in need of saving. She was a completely ridiculous object of satire but also an object of empathy, somehow oddly relatable, and-most importantly-endlessly fascinating. With Swinton's Elizabeth in this film, I think Torres attempts to capture the same loud dissonance but fails miserably. Swinton is one of my favorite actors, but every line she has in this film is delivered in the same obnoxious bray; she provides occasional glimmers of depth in her facial expressions, but the writing simply doesn't support it. I suspect Torres was too intimidated by her to give her any direction or demand a second take. The result is that her character is thoroughly repulsive, flimsily drawn, and unwatchably annoying. Her "squeaky wheel gets the grease" behavior serves as an inspiration for Torres's change in the climax of the film, but it's almost appalling that the screenplay thereby seems to be condoning her aggressiveness, ineptitude, and entitlement. Perhaps the point is that Torres's character, who has real problems and is facing true injustices, has learned to leverage the power of acting like a privileged one percenter, in a sense using evil for good... but I don't know. The story is too sloppy to communicate any clear message, and I can't imagine we're supposed to celebrate that the world has gained one more impolite loudmouth.

Overall, Torres's debut film suggests to me that he should stick to shorter formats. Not only has he recycled numerous bits that worked far better when he first conceived them years ago, but the film as a whole fails to gel into anything that feels complete or properly structured. There are certainly some good bits here. In Greta Lee's single scene, she gives a more powerful (and hilarious) performance than in the entirety of her starring role in last year's acclaimed PAST LIVES. James Scully, Larry Owens, and Megan Stalter also earn some solid laughs. But, in the words of my husband, this is simultaneously the most "half-baked yet overcooked" film you're likely to see in a while, where you'll walk away knowing more about why Torres hates FileMaker Pro than you will about the background story of the main antagonist, and where multiple customer service calls are presented in their entirety whereas the exhibition that the film climactically builds to doesn't get any screentime at all.

I will continue to enjoy Julio Torres's comedy, and I hope he is given a chance to direct a second film that presents us something new and fresh from his lovely imagination. I cannot at all recommend this strange, slapdash, and insufferable film, however.