Watching the gradual but steady ascent of Julio Torres from a mainstay on the contemporary alternative comedy scene to one of the most intriguing and ingenious creative minds of his generation has been a delight, and whether we first took note of him for his work as a writer on Saturday Night Live (where sketches such as “Papyrus” and “Wells for Boys” are some of the greatest in recent memory), the underseen but exception Los Espookys, or any of his other projects, he has been developing a very unique comedic voice that is more necessary now than ever, especially with the influx of new queer comedians that are bringing their unique perspective to the medium. It was only a matter of time before Torres stepped behind the camera for a film, and his directorial debut has proven to be one of the most exciting and enthralling of the past few years. Problemista follows a character loosely based on Torres as he voyages from his home in El Salvador to New York City, where he intends to become a toy designer, an ambitious endeavour but one that does not yield the results he expected, since it turns out that his ideas, while ingenious and deeply original, don’t quite mesh with the capitalistic intentions of his adopted home country, which proves to be both a blessing and curse to this aimless young man. He also has to deal with the sudden realization that, without a job, he will not be able to remain in the United States, which coincides with his introduction to Elizabeth, an eccentric art critic who takes the young man under her wing, the pair beginning a tumultuous but fascinating friendship that teaches these two very different individuals about the sometimes challenging nature of everyday life. An outstanding debut from Torres, who immediately establishes himself as someone with a clear and distinct directorial vision that matches the brilliant writing he has showcased over the last decade, Problemista is unquestionably one of the year’s best films, an intricately-woven comedy that covers a wide breadth of themes, each one perfectly curated to the narrative intentions and artistic sensibilities that the director intended to explore throughout the story. Deeply moving and emotionally resonant, as well as outrageously funny and genuinely heartfelt, it seems impossible to fault the film in any way, despite its intentionally unpolished and unconventional approach, in terms of both the narrative and its visual manifestations, both of which work together in tandem.

Usually, we’d be inclined to discuss the surface-level narrative structure before diving into the deeper meaning, but despite being a very funny and outrageously entertaining film, Problemista is propelled almost entirely by the more complex ideas, which is perhaps what makes it such an unorthodox film. The first few moments, in which Torres employs the iconic timbre of the always reliable Isabella Rossellini as the film’s narrator, are spent establishing the overall thematic framework for the film, which focuses on the experience of being an outsider. On the surface, the film is based around a young man navigating the treacherous bureaucratic red tape of which most natural-born Americans are blissfully unaware, but which become the bane of the existence of immigrants and those seeking a better life in the proverbial land of opportunity. Torres is very proud of his identity as both a queer artist and someone from South America, so it is only natural to have expected Problemista is centre squarely on his experiences, serving as a partially autobiographical tale in which Torres journeys into his past to tell the story of a young man who struggles to come to terms with the fact that he is an outsider in a country that supposedly promises prosperity to those who require it, but only providing it to the select few that manage to escape the various obstacles that capitalist has set up precisely to ensure those who succeed do so without any assistance from the system they are patiently waiting to become a part of, one of the great ironies of the lives of immigrants as they attempt to make their life in another country. Problemista explores the experiences of being an outsider in a society that you don’t quite understand, a feeling that is proven to be nothing if not mutual based on how challenging it can be to navigate some very simple aspects of everyday life, which the majority of people tend to take for granted. Torres comes across as someone who reconfigured his insecurity and cultural confusion as a migrant as the foundation for his artistic inspiration, and we find that there are several elements in this film that relate back to his unique style of comedy, which is very much about being someone who is gradually coming to terms with existing on the margins of society, a place he actually has grown to adore for a number of reasons, which the film showcases in vivid and brilliant detail.

However, Torres is not self-centred enough to make this film solely about his journey, and while he does bring a lot of his own experiences into the character of Alejandro, Problemista flourishes into a rich, evocative existential story about friendship. The film centres on two people who come from entirely different segments of society, different in age, generation, economic status, nationality and even personality and temperament, yet it follows them as they form this unconventional friendship in which all of these qualities (which would normally serve to just widen the division between two individuals) dissipate after a while, leaving room for only their sincere affection for one another to shine through, which it does vividly. The odd couple scenario is a common comedic device, especially since it is tried and tested, and has been proven to be quite effective in establishing a solid foundation from which some genuinely compelling jokes can emerge. This dynamic is explored beautifully in the film – the concept of an awkward young immigrant striking a friendship with a loose cannon who treats him like some combination of a servant and her closest confidante is a very unique approach and one that is the source of some hilarious and irreverent humour that goes in several different directions. Ultimately, as much as we may be inclined to reduce a film like this to a single theme or two, Problemista is about much more than just the immigrant experience. In choosing to focus the core of the story on this friendship (which evokes the incredible Harold and Maude in many ways, which may have been an unintentional choice, but which strikes a very similar chord), Torres can add so much depth, since the theme of companionship and finding a kindred spirit is quite malleable, and can be configured into just about any shape and still be profoundly compelling and extremely entertaining in one way or another, which is all part of the appeal of such a film. One of the many reasons why it is likely to stand the test of time and become a cherished classic of the genre for future generations since it is possible to see ourselves reflected in this touching and complex story of the importance of friendship and the challenges that come with determining our identity.

Torres may have started his career as a writer, and done most of his most substantial work behind the camera, but as an on-screen performer, he has still made quite an impression. While there was always the possibility of casting a different actor in the role so clearly based on his own life, Torres chooses to take the part himself, which adds layers of authenticity, even if it isn’t directly aligned with every one of his own experiences. He’s a very gifted actor and comedic presence, and his entire on-screen persona is based around the fact that he plays these socially awkward, introverted characters extremely well, finding the humanity in sometimes challenging individuals. He’s a competent lead, and his unconventional charms and ability to capture our attention with such simple cues are astonishing. However, he fully realizes that the anchor of this film is his co-star, since everything in Problemista, both narratively and thematically, can be traced back to Tilda Swinton, who delivers her best performance in over a decade, playing the live-wire, deeply eccentric art critic who believes she is conveying the image of someone who is well put-together and the arbiter of taste, but in reality is dealing with her life being in shambles, her sanity holding on by a thread and her only defence being her erratic behaviour that borders on psychotic. The film cuts through all archetypal traits and makes sure that Swinton’s character, while deranged, is never needlessly villainous, and a far cry from the stereotypical loose-cannon “Karen” that some have mistakenly compared her to, not realizing the multitude of layers that go into this performance. Swinton is absolute perfection, combining her penchant for playing these peculiar individuals with her deep, undying compassion, which emerges in many quiet moments, where both she and Torres demonstrate such extraordinary vulnerability. Despite the quirky, surreal nature of the film, Problemista is worth watching for the incredible performances alone, and the unexpected humanity is one of the great surprises that ground this film and prevents it from being too overly absurd.

While we are naturally drawn to discuss the narrative elements and how the actors bring it to life, Problemista is much more complex than simply a conventional comedy about two peculiar individuals finding common ground and striking up a strange but endearing friendship that teaches them both important lessons about each other and the world that surrounds them. Torres is a writer who has always been driven by the idea of challenging the status quo through well-placed acts of subversion, of which this film is essentially just a series of moments proving his incredible prowess at creating unorthodox depictions of the world that are vaguely nonsensical but still deeply resonant, and profoundly relevant in ways that we may not always expect. Abstraction is one of his most useful tools, and he uses it as a device to craft a comedy that is as strange as it is moving, the two being essentially symbiotic as the film voyages through the various layers of narrative that Torres gradually begins to introduce. Considering how much of his comedy relies on some sense of absurdism, it is only natural to have expected some degree of this to be present in his endeavour into feature filmmaking, and the entire foundation of Problemista is constructed from this precise kind of left-of-centre humour that has made Torres such a singular comedic voice, and someone who produces work in which the only reliable quality we can expect is that it will be something entirely different and that we will be unable to predict the bizarre directions in which the story will leap, which is all part of the immense appeal that defines and guides the film. There’s a tendency to think that surrealist films have to employ an “all-or-nothing” approach, whereby they need to either surrender entirely to their peculiar ideas, or not explore them at all, which is misguided and spawns from the belief that it is an aesthetic and narrative technique designed specifically to be strange without purpose, rather than being an art movement designed to disrupt and disrespect conventions, which is precisely what Torres was aiming to achieve, and what he did so splendidly throughout Problemista, a film that is as engaging as it is deeply original, specifically for how it explores some profoundly deep themes in a decidely bizarre and dreamlike manner.

Abstraction abounds throughout Problemista, but it is never the main propellant of the story and it becomes only part of the experience – at its heart, this is a truly touching story of two people trying to make their way through a hostile world that is not made for them, but yet which they still set out to conquer in some delightfully deranged reconfiguration of the “meek shall inherit” adage that has inspired many similar stories. Part of the immense success of this film is that it doesn’t default into a string of absurd moments without allowing them to all have substance. The emotional inventory of this film is quite remarkable, and somehow also very unexpected – we’d not normally predict a work of surrealist comedy to have such a tender emotional core, but there are several moments in which Torres sets aside the idiosyncracies, and instead embraces the underlying emotions, which make this a richer, more complex film that manages to be genuinely moving in ways that may not be entirely anticipated, but are still very much welcomed, as the meticulous attention to the emotions, making them richer and more complete, allows the film to feel like a genuinely revelatory experience. It also helps that Torres enlists a talented crew to help bring this film to life, with both the surreal and emotionally resonant elements being buttressed by the visual and aural components. The cinematography by Fredrik Wenzel, as well as the art direction and costume design are precise and unforgettable, creating a visual landscape that is recognizable but still uncanny and plays to the more surreal elements of the story without allowing it to be derailed by peculiarities. The score composed by Robert Ouyang Rusli is truly hypnotic and beautiful – the use of unconventional instruments in the arrangments merged with a range of genres, adds to the atmosphere. We often tend to view music as incidental in such films, but Problemista proves that it can be vital in not only establishing a specific tone but creating a very distinct mood that shifts and changes as the film progresses, being as dynamic and unpredictable as the story being told alongside.

Words cannot express the range of emotions that emerge throughout Problemista, a film that seems like a trivial exercise in entry-level surrealism on the surface but proves to have more depth than just about any comedy from the past couple of years, especially those that tackle these specific themes. Poetic, earnest and genuinely very funny, and driven by the desire to tell this story, not as an act of vanity on the part of Torres, but rather a moment of sharing his journey – he is someone who views his experiences as being formative to his identity as an artist, but also one that will likely resonate with a large portion of viewers that have found themselves in similar positions, whether in terms of confronting the draconian nature of the bureaucracy or in the psychological sense of having to deal with inner turmoil, insecurity and existential dread, all of which are woven into the fabric of this story. Several moving parts constitute this film, and despite having to balance so many different ideas and tonal shifts, Torres proves himself to be extremely capable, never once showing any sign of weakness, whether as a director, writer or actor, and he instead proves that he represents the future of comedy, his style of humour already proving to be quite influential based on his existing output and how it has shaped alternative comedy in a small but significant way. His performance across from Swinton (who is a revelation in the role, a bizarre sentiment to be sharing about such an established and iconic performer, but one that feels like she is genuinely doing something we have never seen from her before) is incredible, and anchors this beautiful, wonderfully charming film that knows how to juggle many challenging emotions with poise, elegance and an endless stream of wit. It is blisteringly funny and unquestionably heartfelt, and the affection shown to this story and the people that exist within it is incredible. Problemista is undeniably one of the year’s most poignant and compelling films, and while this should not come as a surprise to anyone based on the involvement of certain artists, it still proves to be an unpredictable, delightful urban odyssey that is as hilarious as it is heartfelt, growing into a film that dares to be different and succeeds in showing the joys that come with celebrating your identity and pursuing those seemingly impossible dreams.