Problemista

Julio Torres has been living the dream as a young comedian and writer. He’s written for a number of prominent comedy shows, most notably SNL during a four year stint in which their writing team received an Emmy nomination every year. He pitched, ran, and co-starred in the universally acclaimed (and tragically cancelled) Los Espookys. And his debut feature film (this one!) was warmly received at SXSW in 2023, leading to distress when its release was delayed about six months by last year’s strikes.

So it makes sense to me that he’d use that platform to dispel the idea that things are ever made easy in the US, especially for an immigrant who dreams of working in a non-traditional field.

The parallels between Torres’ and the fictional Alejandro’s lives points to this being a semi-autobiographical tale, infused with surreality and absurdism. They both were raised in El Salvador by an architect mother who instilled in them the belief that they could be anything they wanted. They both traveled to the US to follow their dream, aspiring to an unorthodox profession: comedy writing for Torres, toy designing for Alejandro (e.g. Cabbage Patch Kids with smartphones, or a slinky which doesn’t go down stairs). Both are vegan.

The catalyst for Alejandro’s “adventure” is a common experience for those who move here: getting jerked around by the esoteric work visa system. After being fired from his job at a cryonics company over an absurd mishap, Alejandro finds himself trapped in the catch-22 of requiring a work visa in order to make money, but not having the money to obtain his work visa. He crosses paths with a wealthy art critic in need of assistance with her frozen husband’s art show and who agrees to sponsor him (Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth). Which is a lifeline, but that signature won’t come until the show is complete. In the mean time, he’s left to make ends meet through a series of demeaning jobs found via Craigslist. All of this is wonderfully captured in abstract and surreal cutaways, such as the impossible maze of the work visa system or Craigslist being a neon realm inhabited by a genie-like being (Larry Owens) surrounded by a cloud of nonsense, and spouting options for gig work.

As they begin gathering Bobby’s paintings (exclusively of eggs in various settings), we’re along for the ride as Ale has his ups and downs navigating his relationship with this eccentric. She is incredibly entitled, leading an existence which takes up as much space as humanly possible, the exact opposite from Alejandro’s cartoonishly nice and nonconfrontational demeanor. You can of course see what this sets up: while it’s not quite so clean as having something to teach each other, they certainly begin to passively have an effect.

Thing is, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this movie is doing. There are many cutaways to his mother in El Salvador as she worries about whether she’s appropriately prepared her son for the real world. We see numerous flashbacks to Bobby and Elizabeth’s life together. There are a bunch of vignettes involving Ale’s odd jobs and his roommates, including renting out his room for the cash while he sleeps on the couch. Greta Lee shows up for a single scene. And so, so much about people holding up a broken and silly system just because they’re told to: “It’s our policy” becomes a refrain.

But so little of it ever really comes together into a cohesive whole. Don’t get me wrong, most elements connect to what Torres is trying to say, but still manage to land as distinct ideas, making the movie feel incredibly scattered. It’s overstuffed and manic and never allows itself to settle into a rhythm. A lot of the distractions feel like they’re serving the comedy first and the story second. Which, on the one hand, makes for a movie that is quite funny. It did get a full-bodied laugh out of me a few times (one of which comes in a disclaimer at the very end of the credits), but more often elicited many chuckles and smirks and snorts. The downside is that the story melts into the background, leaving you to latch on to the theme. Which, while solid, makes the movie feel fairly hollow and hard to get invested in. I feel for Ale because I know how disastrous the American visa system is, not because of anything about Ale himself. It doesn’t help that his character growth seems to come all of a sudden at the end, feeling abrupt despite it being easy to track where it came from.

Similarly, it’s hard to get past how much of a nightmare Elizabeth is. Never mind with relation to Alejandro’s “employment”, but even in those flashbacks with Bobby. She’s a bit more bearable, but I never really understood their relationship. Maybe Torres wasn’t trying to explain them, but it’s an element that was missing. Elizabeth comes off as an island unto herself, and she never feels open to Ale's attempts at bridging it. Which makes her a far less sympathetic character, even as we uncover the deep sadness she feels, and her surprising similarity to Ale: both feel they deserve better, and will stop at nothing to get it, although their actions in response vastly differ.

To say nothing of the fairly weak ending which leaves you wondering what all of that was for. Sure, it ends up pointing us towards the emotional journey our character went on and the changes to all involved, but without having connected us to the characters, it instead unfolds so cleanly and conveniently that it doesn’t land with any real oomph.

The fact I’m talking so much about how the movie played despite the presence of all its pieces signals to me the issue is in the execution, not the ideas. Torres is brimming with ideas and a unique style, and is confident in presenting his vision to the world. It’s just an unrefined vision, one which he was never quite able to distill into its essential parts. He needs practice and mentorship, and one hopes enough people take note of this project to help shape him into the more mature storyteller he clearly has within him. Granted, while it sounds like he did always want to direct a feature, I’ve no idea what the experience of it was for him, and if he’d like to do so again. But whatever your feelings on Problemista, it certainly marks him as someone to watch, as he could have a very interesting and unique career, should he wish.