Problemista: Film Review
I take it as a vote of confidence when Emma Stone and her husband Dave McCary attach themselves to projects as producers. But perhaps my sensibilities don’t align with theirs because Problemista (just like I Saw the TV Glow) is very unusual and offbeat.
This surrealist comedy, starring writer and director Julio Torres, follows a young man named Alejandro. He is fired from his job at a futuristic body-freezing company, meaning he has two weeks to find new employment otherwise he’ll be deported to El Salvador. Thankfully, erratic art critic Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton) hires him as her assistant, assuring him she’ll sponsor his work visa if she helps her put on a show of her frozen husband’s (RZA‘s) paintings.
Problemista is not a straightforward laugh-out-loud comedy. It has its amusing moments but it goes for more of an odd, off-kilter vibe that reminded me of The Curse (another Stone project). It took me a while to get into it and I didn’t vibe with it completely throughout. However, I loved the ending and it made me re-evaluate and think more positively about what had come before. Not all of the weird ideas work but I quite enjoyed seeing the personification of Craigslist (played by Larry Owens).
I know you don’t have to like all the characters to enjoy a film but I really couldn’t stand Elizabeth. She is volatile and insufferable and makes everyone’s lives hell except Alejandro’s. I’m sure something happened in her past to make her think everyone is out to get her but she is a nightmare. Swinton expertly commands the mood swings of their mercurial character, from anger to vulnerability.
Alejandro is a young man who wants to live in America to apply to a toy designer programme at Hasbro. This film really shines a light on the immigrant experience and what they have to go through to stay in America. He is a passive, sweet person caught up in a tricky situation, placing all his hopes on an unreliable person. Thankfully, Elizabeth’s attitude rubs off on Alejandro in a seriously satisfying way.
Problemista has genius moments but its quirky vibe won’t be everyone. I loved where the story ended but it is quite hit and miss along the way.
Available on digital platforms from Monday 8th July