April Movies Part 2: Problemista & Civil War

Do you want to watch a surreal comedy about what's wrong with America? Or do you want to watch a harrowing drama about what's wrong with America? Either way, dive in for reviews for two great movies about the perils of living in America!

Problemista: Written and directed by Julio Torres (who also stars, what a Renaissance man!), this movie tells the story of Alejandro (Torres), a young immigrant from El Salvador who dreams of being a toymaker of extremely whimsical (aka weird) toys. He wants a job at Hasbro, but in the interim, the man's gotta eat, so he has a job at a cryogenics company. When he is fired, the 30-day immigration clock starts ticking, where he needs to get a job with an employer who is willing to sponsor his work visa. Otherwise, he will be kicked out of the country.

As someone who works in a company with a lot of immigrants who routinely face this peril when they are made redundant, I immediately sensed his panic. But this movie takes a comically surreal look at the many ways in which the immigration system screws over hard-working people and makes them more vulnerable to exploitation. Alejandro thinks he has found a savior in Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton, in a role that should be considered in next year's Oscar race), a bizarre art critic who is the very definition of a Karen. She hires Alejandro to help her organize an art exhibition of her late husband's artwork, but she is a frenzied and frantic employer who is obsessed with FileMaker Pro. Since she has only taken him on part-time and hasn't signed any visa paperwork, to make ends meet, Alejandro is subletting his tiny bedroom in an already crowded apartment and taking up odd jobs on Craigslist that only get progressively worse as his desperation deepens.

I know I'm not describing a very funny movie, but it genuinely is hilarious while telling a very real tale of how people fall through the cracks all the time in our capitalist society. While riddled with jokes, Problemista manages to be a biting satire about how we treat people with dreams and thwart their ambitions. I suppose it's a comedy because of the way in which Alejandro's problems are resolved, but oh boy, the journey is fraught.

Civil War: Written and directed by Alex Garland, the one-word description of this film is: harrowing. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it, feeling sweaty and horrified. I know that doesn't sound like a fun time at the theater, but man, I haven't felt this emotionally invested in a film in a long while.

Set in the near future, the premise is that multiple states have gotten together to secede from the United States and a civil war has broken out. The country is now subject to violent attacks and bombings, and the President (played by Nick Offerman, in a spot of top-notch casting), keeps sending out messages about how the government is battling the insurrectionists and winning this war. But the reality is that things are going terribly, and the government will likely be overthrown. Kirsten Dunst stars as Lee, a weary war photographer who covered many horrific uprisings in other countries but now has to depict the war in her own homeland. She is accompanied by fellow journalist Joel (Wagner Moura), a man who really gets a thrill out of being embedded with military troops in the thick of action. The two of them decide to travel down to Washington D.C. from New York, a journey that is bound to be perilous as most of the major roadways have been bombed and rebel forces are dotted along the entire East Coast. But they want to go interview the President before the government collapses. Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a veteran journalist who was Lee's mentor wants to join them, and so does Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a young photographer who idolizes Lee's work and aspires to become a photojournalist herself. Reluctantly, Lee and Joel agree to take them along.

Together, this motley crew embark on the world's most terrifying road trip. The film plays out as a series of increasingly disturbing vignettes, where these four people encounter different terrors along the way and see the many ways in which ordinary citizens have either been transformed by this war or blithely ignore it. Rather than being a political movie, this is a movie that is simply trying to remind us about the horrors of war. Humans are a god-awful species, capable of incredible destruction, and as we follow these journalists on their amoral journey to document all the atrocities they see without taking any action, it is really hard to endure the relentless onslaught.

This film is shot impeccably by cinematographer Rob Hardy. Every action scene is blended in with photo stills so we can see the photojournalism happening in real time and observe how the violence is translated into macabre black-and-white beauty via a camera. Every actor is sensational, depicting how their characters evolve over the course of the film to either become more or less world-weary, each one dealing with their individual existential crises as they make this arduous journey. And the soundtrack is phenomenal, oftentimes jarring, as we get upbeat tunes at the most downbeat of moments and have to remember that every time something horrible happens to one person, there's another side in this war that is celebrating. It's all incredibly sobering but brilliantly told and I dearly hope it remains in the genre of speculative fiction rather than serving as a prophecy.