It’s rare to see Central Americans on the big screen. When Latinx people do show up on screen, they’re often from Mexico or Puerto Rico. This is why I was super excited for “Problemista,” a surrealist comedy about a Salvadoran immigrant hoping to become a toy designer in New York City.
The feature film is the directorial debut of Julio Torres, who is known for creating the cult comedy “Los Espookys” and several sketches for “Saturday Night Live.” Torres, a Salvadoran immigrant himself, also wrote and starred in the film. But this is not your typical immigration narrative.
Instead, “Problemista” is the quirky and whimsical journey of the shy and awkward Alejandro. After he both failed a job interview with Hasbro and loses his current job, Ale has one month to secure a work visa, or he will disappear altogether (i.e. deported). His urgency is illuminated by a literal hourglass running out of sand. Alejandro ends up gigging odd jobs and delving into the obscure New York art world in hopes of finding a visa sponsor along the way.
That’s when Alejandro meets Elizabeth, an erratic and eccentric woman played by Tilda Swinton. She’s a true “problemista”: someone who looks for or creates problems. Elizabeth, who is married to a cryogenically frozen artistic painter (briefly played by rapper RZA), tentatively agrees to sponsor Alejandro if he helps her find an art gallery to host her husband’s art pieces, a varying collection of egg paintings.
In one scene, Elizabeth adamantly (and humorously) insists Alejandro learn and use FileMaker Pro, which the film’s narrator pithily says is “basically the same” as Google Sheets, “but harder to use and not free.” Elizabeth herself does not know how to use it.
It’s just one of many scenarios Alejandro must navigate as he adapts to Elizabeth’s overbearing and maniacal nature. She yells and freaks out over every moment that does not go her way. She says everyone is yelling at her, yet she is the only one raising her voice. Elizabeth’s abusive nature is magnified when she turns into a dragon as Alejandro, a knight, tries to defeat her.
Certain qualities of “Problemista” are reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s fantastical and bonkers Monty Python films. While reveling in dry humor and outlandish sequences, “Problemista” argues that immigrants are people who have to live with a margin of no error, and need to exceed in every single way. The film obsesses over the dystopian power dynamics between employers and immigrant workers, who, like Alejandro, must achieve acceptance at the expense of truly expressing what they want. They can only bite their tongue.
The toxic tension between Alejandro and Elizabeth is rounded out by a supporting cast featuring Greta Lee, James Scully, and Larry Owens, who personify the world of Craigslist, and Alejandro’s mother, played by Chilean actress Catalina Saavedra, who supports him from afar in El Salvador.
In Torres’ “Problemista,” hard work and keeping your head down will get you nowhere. Immigrants can do everything they can in pursuit of opportunity, and still have the rug pulled out from under them. It’s through Elizabeth’s unhinged ploys that Alejandro discovers that sometimes you need to create problems to find new solutions. Or, as Elizabeth puts it, make yourself someone else’s problem.
