Problemista (2024)

Written by Horseface on April 21, 2024

I was drawn in to this one because it features Tilda Swinton, one of my favorite actresses. She is, in this movie too, an absolute power house of talent, and the sole reason to keep watching.

Unfortunately, the movie is entirely unwatchable, as each and every main character, and quite a few of the secondary ones as well, is insufferable. This may be on purpose, I suspect it is, but I really need at least for either the protagonist to be likable, or in the case of an antihero, for the supporting cast to be likable. Here, I get neither.

Now, there are clear overtones drawing a message about immigrants coming to the United States for work. The message being that they're incompetent infantile unlikable narcissistic habitual liars without a conscience.

Personally, I don't subscribe to this simplistic and clearly incorrect view. Surely, not all immigrants are like this, I'd wager a dwindling number would be. But I don't really fault the movie for offering this view, and it's not why I score it this low. I watch movies presenting viewpoints to which I don't subscribe all the time, and if they do it well and in a professional and engaging manner, I'll like the movie all the same. One example of this is "Men," which presents a terribly nihilistic and misandrist theme, but it does so masterfully, and so I must (joyfully) cheer for it all the same.

This movie, however, is just awful. Its theme is hateful and its execution incompetent. I suspect the writer/director is as narcissistic and sociopathic as its characters. It has that vibe.

Although I couldn't stomach finishing this atrocity, I cannot give it one star. Tilda Swinton is too wonderful for that. And therefore, two stars. Avoid.