Immigration restrictionists sometimes like to say they favor immigration, so long as it's legal. Why can't immigrants get in line and follow the rules? The problem is that the legal system is labyrinthine, and the rules often border on the absurd. It's Kafka-esque—or at least Kafka as filtered through the lens of Monty Python and Charlie Kaufman. It's existentially terrifying, but also sort of bizarre and at times even quite funny.
That's a reasonable approximation of the view taken by Problemista, a magical realist immigration fable about an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who just wants to find a work visa. That sort of story could easily become saccharine or somber, but filmmaker and star Julian Torres generally keeps the tone light and charming. This too-eager-to-please movie sometimes suffers from a surfeit of whimsy; at times it feels like gagging on rainbows. But the best sequences are quirky journeys into the surreal designed to capture the frustrations of American immigration policy and the seemingly impossible demands it places on those who just want to work.
