Problemista

Julio Torres mined his own life and experiences to make his feature directorial debut “ Problemista,” in which he plays an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador caught in the nightmarish Catch-22 of the U.S. immigration system. HT Image His character Alejandro desperately needs someone to sponsor his work visa, and he thinks he may have found that person in Tilda Swinton’s Elizabeth, a caustic, put-upon art critic. Together they embark on a wild, surreal New York odyssey of setbacks, bureaucratic nonsense,…

By Mark Kennedy | Associated Press The hero of “Problemista” sees the world differently. He’s an aspiring toy designer named Alejandro who thinks today’s toys are too fun. He proposes a toy truck with a deflating tire to teach kids they’re running out of time. Alejandro is the creation of Julio Torres, who stars, directs and has written “Problemista,” an off-kilter and very winning movie from a rising artist who thrillingly reflects his own toy maker’s singular,…

The hero of “Problemista” sees the world differently. He's an aspiring toy designer named Alejandro who thinks today's toys are too fun. He proposes a toy truck with a deflating tire to teach kids they’re running out of time. HT Image Alejandro is the creation of Julio Torres, who stars, directs and has written “Problemista,” an off-kilter and very winning movie from a rising artist who thrillingly reflects his own toy maker's singular, idiosyncratic mind. “Problemista” is not like a Wes Anderson-type…

As testified by numerous documentaries, many journalistic investigations and countless lived experiences, the United States immigration system is a purgatorial, deliberately confusing, dehumanizing hell. Getting here, let alone staying here, can be a confounding maze of dead-ends and Kafka-esque double binds, an impossible staircase of bureaucracy. The metaphors come easy; the system lends itself well to magical realism, as poignantly realized in the new A24 film Problemista, in which immigration is a literal maze of drab…