Problemista

Directed, written, and starred by Salvadoran comedian Julio Torres (Los Espookys), Problemista is a comedy that presents an absurd premise and doesn't worry about its credibility, and instead embraces its ridiculousness and runs with it. Set in an unspecified time in New York, Álex (Torres) aspires to be a toy inventor at Hasbro, with ideas as absurd as Barbies with crossed fingers or Cabbage Patch dolls with cellphones. To make ends meet, he works at a cryogenization clinic that freezes patients to wake up in the future (although there's no certainty that such technology will exist). When he is fired, he takes a job as an assistant to the neurotic Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton at her finest), who harbors the unreal idea of curating an exhibition of her artist husband's paintings, one of the frozen patients. With a production design that indulges in camp (closer to Roger Waters than to Pedro Almodóvar), using cheap costumes and ridiculous digital special effects, Torres builds a surreal and amusing atmosphere that satirizes the twisted difficulties of living in the United States (especially for Latin immigrants), the banal and stupid egocentrism of the cultural elites, and the absurdity of corporatism. Its eccentricity may repel some, but if you approach it on these terms, you'll leave the cinema having seen something truly unique.

Lalo Ortega

Chief Editor at Filmelier