“Why are you making everything so difficult?” Julio Torres asks Tilda Swinton in the trailer for the upcoming A24 comedy Problemista. That’s the central question in the film, which centers around his character’s struggle to achieve the American Dream.
In Problemista, Torres plays an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador named Alejandro who’s struggling to make it in New York City. As his work visa runs out, Alejandro’s job as an assistant to an erratic art world pariah named Elizabeth (Swinton) is his only hope to stay in the US.
The trailer shows Alejandro’s desperation to find someone to co-sign his visa, which leads him to ask Elizabeth to be his sponsor. She agrees in exchange for helping her curate an art exhibition, which sounds easy enough, but unfortunately, Alejandro still has to jump through hoops like paying “fees to earn money.”
One friend calls Elizabeth “a monster,” which is particularly accurate when she questions Alejandro’s commitment to the job and claims he doesn’t know “what it is to really want something.” Talk about being clueless. Watch the trailer below.
Problemista was written and directed by Torres (Los Espookys), who also produced it with Emma Stone, Dave McCary, and Ali Herting. The cast also features RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saaverdra, James Scully, and Isabella Rossellini, the latter of whom serves as the narrator.
Catch Problemista in theaters on August 4th.
