Written by: Julio Torres
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Julio Torres, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully
Rating: [3/5]
Finding inventive ways to tell familiar stories always warrant some level of praise as it ultimately defines ways to freshen up entire genres. Stories about immigrants finding their way in a new land always personally has my attention and Problemista certainly has an intriguing approach to telling it and while I can certainly appreciate its originality, it does prove to be quite grating in several moments.
Dreaming to become a toy maker for Hasbro, Alejandro (Julio Torres) must maintain employment and visa sponsorship to avoid deportation. Therefore, he works at a clinic that cryogenically freezes people and when a mistake leads to his termination, Alejandro feverishly tries to find a new visa sponsor, which leads him to the enigmatic Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton).
I will give Julio Torres one thing, he certainly has quite the mind and idea of how to visually craft his films mixed in with fantastical metaphors and meanings that say more than the characters do themselves. Plenty of instances where he follows the all famous adage of “show don’t tell.” He presents so much to appreciate in what he crafts in this film as he tells an immigration story unlike any other. No one can fully understand the pressures of trying to find work in order to get a visa without experiencing it themselves and the way he presents the story with the desperation Alejandro navigates with, especially when having to put up with Elizabeth and her antics really says it all. While the creativity brings the high points of the film, the all-important relationship Alejandro has with Elizabeth continuously pulled me away.
What this dynamic means for the narrative as a whole undoubtedly carries plenty of weight but the presentation of Elizabeth as a character made stretches of the film simply unwatchable in moments. Elizabeth represents this “Karen” archetype character in all the worst ways you can think of which includes rudeness to waiters for no apparent reason and throwing tantrums when she does not get her way. However, instead of having the famous Karen haircut, Elizabeth looks like something out of a children’s coloring book. Certainly an interesting character and bringing on Tilda Swinton to play this role made plenty of sense. However, for the majority of this runtime Elizabeth feels mind-numbingly one-note and abrasive, which made her presence an unwelcome one where more interest lies in Alejandro’s personal journey. Given this narrative inextricably links them for obvious reasons, including the thematic, it ultimately hampered the experience.
To think a supporting role could so deeply hamper a film feels a bit unfair to an entire narrative but it highlights that this film’s quirks are very much a defining element of whether an audience member will find enjoyment in the movie. Very much one of those instances where one has to vibe with the weirdness of the film and if one fails to do so, not much excitement will be found. For goodness’s sake, we have much of the plot centering on Alejandro finding an art exhibit that will display Elizabeth’s cryogenically frozen husband’s ridiculous egg portraits. You either get on its wavelength or you do not and I sat right in the middle with it overall.
Packing in as much originality to an immigrant story as one could possibly imagine, Julio Torres does something quite special with Problemista. Through his feature film debut he both frustrated and beguiled me with how he frames this story and the relationship Alejandro has with Elizabeth. Frankly it’s not often that I ever even consider Tilda Swinton as the worst part of anything she works on but I guess there’s a first for everything. If one could describe this film in one word, “quirky” would be the one that comes most to mind and some may like it while others find it unbearable to watch. My feelings swayed back and forth between these two feelings and while I felt a sense of relief when the credits rolled where I was happy it was finally over I cannot deny the respect I have for Julio Torres’s vision with this material. If he continues making films I will certainly be there to watch as no matter how quirky his stories may be they certainly have something to say and it gets presented in a visually resplendent manner.
Films with Josh 
