Problemista

From the goofy, sweet, yet twisted mind of former SNL writer Julio Torres comes Problemista, a film somehow more stressful than Uncut Gems — yet its discomfort doesn’t stem from a tense situation but instead one of the most annoying and difficult characters ever committed to film.

That individual is Tilda Swinton’s ostracized art critic Elizabeth, wife of cryogenically frozen artist Bobby (RZA), the latter of whom aspiring El Salvadorian toy creator Alejandro (Torres) was taking care of at an NYC medical facility until an incident leaves the young man in search of a new job to avoid deportation — potentially through Elizabeth if he can help her land Bobby a solo exhibit of his egg paintings.

If that rundown has your head spinning, trust that it’s but a taste of the twisty, creative storytelling that awaits in this idiosyncratic charmer. From Alejandro’s perpetual cowlick and the funny way he walks/shuffles/lopes, to the film’s humorous “product placement” and hilarious personification of Craigslist (a scene-stealing Larry Davis from Dumb Money), Torres’ oddball fingerprints are all over Problemista, which is nevertheless far more than an entertaining collection of gags.

Such quirkiness is in the service of an overarching dark satire of the modern immigrant experience, fortified by no-nonsense narration from Isabella Rossellini that’s equal parts silly and tragic, and Alejandro’s heartbreaking phone calls with his mother Dolores (Catalina Saavedra) back in El Salvador.

Borrowing from Michel Gondry’s more melancholy work and Charlie Kaufman’s most absurd exaggerations (read: yes, it also has a lot in common with Beau is Afraid), Problemista remains foremost Torres’ distinct vision. And as with those artists’ first feature projects, this writer/director/star struggles a bit in connecting his brilliant ideas. Here, that means bottoming out in a wasteland on both sides of the hour mark, raising the question why Torres — and Alejandro — chooses to spend so much time with such a reprehensible human, despite Swinton’s dedication to the role.

Additional frustrating decisions by our protagonist checker the film’s final stretch, though Torres’ crisp visuals and boundless imagination prevail and a handful of well-earned character victories make the toxicity easier to stomach.

Likewise helping matters are two (?!?) Asheville references that play as jokes to us yokels but are either wholly random or a bizarre (and perhaps bizarrely fitting) choice for Elizabeth’s third home. Along with terrorizing service industry professionals in NYC and Maine, one can easily imagine her laying into employees at The Laughing Seed and your favorite local art gallery — and these innocent targets praying that she returns up North pronto.

Grade: B. Rated R. Now playing at Grail Moviehouse

(Photo: A24)