Problemista

Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream.

What the critics are saying

“Problemista is smart, sly, and so silly, balancing all its stresses and social commentary with a sense of wonder at the wild world and those who populate it.”
– Kimber Myers, Crooked Marquee

“Torres gifts Swinton with a frazzled but larger-than-life character and the Oscar-winning actor — one of the best in the business — makes the most of it.”
– Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“It’s a marvelous mixture of surrealism and social satire that depicts the American dream as a nightmare of bureaucracy and phone calls to customer service. There’s nothing more absurd, the film argues, than the mundane.”
– Shirley Li, The Atlantic