Bringing to life a colourful and chaotic, character-filled world that should appeal to those enjoy the films of Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson, Guillermo del Toro and Tim Burton, this also features deliciously dry narration by Isabella Rossellini.

| Feb 7, 2025

The whimsy is wearying and gets in the way of a real story on the surreal immigrant experience.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 2, 2024

[Torres'] mix of exasperation and excitement is key to endearing Alejandro to us while his deadpan sarcasm towards the troubles that ail him punch up the satirical nature of this bureaucratic nightmare. Swinton is therefore nothing short of genius.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 22, 2024

It’s not so insane that I can see it alienating anyone, but it’s out there enough to be fresh to those who crave such a thing.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 21, 2024

Fans of Torres’s whimsical comedy will find much to love in his directorial debut, which takes a fantastical approach to depicting the very real trials of immigration and creative work.

| Oct 21, 2024

While at times it looks, smells and feels like The Tilda Swinton Show, this movie actually belongs to Julio Torres with his talented fingerprints all over this impressive debut. Silly, sweet and – at times – ridiculous.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 21, 2024

Silly comedy about the immigrant experience in NYC.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 29, 2024

Problemista is a singular, wildly original vision that knows exactly how to temper one over-the-top protagonist with her perfect foil

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 23, 2024

While many details might be silly, and scenes often play out as wildly imaginative fantasies with engaging on-set effects, the underlying story has a vivid emotionality that catches us off guard.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 23, 2024

Problemista stands as a triumph of storytelling. Torres invites us into a world where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where dreams collide with harsh realities, and where the journey is as illuminating as the destination.

| Jul 18, 2024

Problemista is only partially satisfying and easy to overlook, but hope is its last word - even if it means achieving things forcibly - and some aspects addressed are so true that they stay with you.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 12, 2024

Against all expectations, an odd-couple friendship develops. Or so this needy, Kaufmanesque indie would have us believe. In practice, however, Swinton is massively overblown and Torres too wispy and diffident to balance things out.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 8, 2024

Problemista is undeniably inventive, but it’s also rather joyless and ultimately infuriating. Like a Slinky that refuses to walk down stairs.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 5, 2024

It’s full of implausible cod-adorable happy-sad touches, the filmic equivalent of a decaf oat latte with a sprinkling of vegan gummy bears.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 3, 2024

Problemista is never less than amusing.... We should appreciate that Torres gets from the great Tilda Swinton one of the most ferocious performances of her extraordinary career.

| Original Score: B | Jul 3, 2024

Granted, the method will work for those who can hang on and ride Torres’ offbeat wavelength. But for others – especially those who chafed at the similarly themed and styled nuttiness of Everything Everywhere All at Once – the film can be a bit much.

| Jul 1, 2024

This is a film that understands that cruelty and care can be two facets of the same blade.

| Jun 30, 2024

There’s a lot of promise and potential present in Problemista, and if Torres gets the opportunity to flex his imagination again, a slightly more streamlined execution could really solidify him as the abstract storyteller he so clearly is.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 12, 2024

Swinton is a hoot, with her spiky, enraged Elizabeth and the adorable Alejandro making for an odd couple to savour.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 20, 2024

As a writer, Torres has a dry, absurdist humor. … As a director, Torres suggests the whimsical imagery that Wes Anderson would make if he were a gay Salvadoran working with a budget of a buck-fifty. And as an actor, he’s … annoying.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 20, 2024