A24 films have produced a lot of movie gems, from Everything Everywhere All at Once to The Whale and, most recently at the Oscars, The Zone of Interest and Past Lives. Problemista was originally slated for an August 4, 2023, release but was halted due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Thankfully, it is in theatres now, Problemista could be a contender for next year’s award season as Tilda Swinton soaked up the screen in this film—written and co-starred with Julio Torres (Nimona).
The story follows an aspiring toy designer, Alejandro (Ale), from El Salvador, who starts working for an erratic art-world outcast, Elizabeth, in New York City, struggling to stay in the country and realize his dream before his work visa expires. He also takes on many other jobs, some a little tricky to observe. Without getting into spoiler territory, this was an anxious trip for me. It gave me the Zillennial shakes, and I was constantly awkward laughing throughout this journey, rooting for Ale to keep his work visa.
It gave off the ordinary-meets-the-abstract we have all been noticing of late. Problemista attempts to show the mundane in a more imaginative, ambitious way, envisioned in dreamland. This could be seen across many of the aforementioned A24 films or even in the Netflix film Unicorn Store. Problemista had just enough bite and humour to stick the oddity landing, edging Everything Everywhere All at Once territory at some parts.
“Problemista could be a contender for next year’s award season as Tilda Swinton soaked up the screen in this film…”
The psychedelic re-imagining of Alejandro navigating Craigslist took the cake for me on the outlandish scale. As for the humour, Swinton carried a lot of the weight. With her interpretation of a dragon-like boss resembling Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, her character was hilarious. Where Streep bared her fangs into Anne Hathaway’s character with silence and haughty gestures, Swinton doubled down on yelling her dissatisfaction with people—shoving piles of disagreements down their throats. It borderline made my anxiety spike, similarly to watching food service in The Bear.
With Swinton at the center of this hurricane scenario, everyone was forced to just observe her while other great actors faded into the background. This was a great representation of Swinton as both Elizabeth and as an actor in this movie. Also, whoever did the costuming and makeup deserves a shoutout for this film. Swinton looked fierce in all of her clothes and outfits!
Yes, Alejandro is the protagonist but he battled for his position. Greta Lee and RZA have their acting resumés but were submerged by Swinton’s fiery breath. This element sold me on Torres’ performance as Alejandro, going from timid to learning to become independent.
Problemista does have its share of problems, though. Inevitably, there have been a lot of wacky, metaphorical interpretations of the American Dream. This one was quite tame in comparison; Drive-Away Dolls is a recent release that came to mind—disregarding the disjointed, over-the-top storyline. While Oscar-nominated Poor Things is in a different realm of surrealism, it had a diverse introspection on the female mind and body versus the patriarchy.
“Problemista had just enough bite and humour to stick the oddity landing, edging Everything Everywhere All at Once territory at some parts.”
This fantastical dramedy played its hand by entering the sci-fi realm by adding in an outrageous tech company that can cryogenically freeze people for a high cost of maintenance. Yet even that felt like an overused trope. It worked for the overarching story, threading the use of it throughout the film, though.
On a positive note, everything else about the film grounded it a lot more to the real world. Everyone loves a good escapism story, but the bottomline always funnels back to waking up and facing reality. This is why The Matrix always seeds doubts in everyone’s mind that we are all living in a simulation now!
The sets were also smartly designed (shoutout to the set designer). I really liked the way Problemista tackled the interpretation of maintaining a U.S. work visa and the whole bureaucratic system behind it. The physical representation of the process added to the whole maze of figuring out where this journey was ending.
The American Dream concept and coming-of-age story has been one that withstands the test of time as different generations traverse the (concrete) jungles. There were a lot of amazing sets, outfits, practical effects and visual effects in Problemista. The ‘problemista’ herself, Swinton swung to the fences in this performance of Elizabeth. The plot itself was straightforward, with some twists and turns along the way. For those looking for something off the beaten path, Problemista is a gem to seek out for some laughs.
