During a particularly slow moment of Carnival this weekend, instead of turning my Forum articles in on time, I went to go see “Problemista” at the Manor on the recommendation of a friend. Please be warned: this review contains some spoilers for the movie! I don’t have enough space to talk about everything I enjoyed or deliver a complete summary, so I’ll try my best to cover the broad strokes.
“Problemista” follows the story of Alejandro (Julio Torres), a boy from El Salvador who is trying to become a toy maker in America. Not only did Torres play the main character — he wrote and directed the movie as well. Torres is joined on screen by Tilda Swinton, who plays the odd and aggressive art critic Elizabeth.
Alejandro is fired from his job, and with only one month to find a sponsor to stay in the U.S. and pursue a job at Hasbro, he ends up working as an assistant for Elizabeth. I honestly couldn’t stand Elizabeth as a character, but that’s a good thing! She’s aggressive and treats other people horribly, but that’s exactly the kind of character she needs to be. We see Alejandro trying to please Elizabeth in order to get his sponsorship and how it’s tearing him apart at the same time.
I also can’t stress enough how well this movie does combining commentary of the U.S. immigration system with some comedic lines.
“Problemista” likes doing theatrical interpretations of conversations between characters, like having Alejandro being a knight battling Elizabeth the hydra. My personal favorite was the Bank of America employee shooting Alejandro, (See the movie for more context!).
We see all the struggles that Alejandro faces because he doesn’t have money, as he can’t formally be paid while he doesn’t have a visa sponsor. Craigslist is interpreted as this magic-glitchy-tech being (played by Larry Owens), and I’m not sure there’s a better way to interpret the uniqueness of the website.
The small details throughout the movie — like Alejandro’s Barbie that crosses its fingers behind its back and the toy car with a slowly deflating tire to remind children of the inevitability of death — frame who Alejandro is while giving the audience a good chuckle.
Alejandro has great character development and one of my favorite character arcs I’ve seen in a movie recently. While Elizabeth was an insufferable character, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I saw a number of reviews saying that people left halfway through the movie, and it’s their loss. The entire movie is brilliant and is definitely worth a whole watch.
Like I said, it’s impossible to really summarize this movie and how much I enjoyed it in this article alone. Please give “Problemista” a chance if you’re looking for a movie to watch!
Leave a Reply