"Curiosity is the gateway to empathy"
Gabriel's message to the bike thief
Julio Torres is one of the great millennial oddballs. The Saturday Night Live writer and Los Espookys co-creator, writer and star is a soulful weirdo who pours his unique comedic voice into shows about queer horror geeks who scare people for fun and comedy specials where he talks at length about his favorite forms. His latest work is Problemista, a film best described as his attempt at a fairy tale.
Torres wrote and directed Problemista, and he plays Alejandro, a young immigrant who faces deportation back to El Salvador after he loses his (strange) job at a clinic where rich people go to freeze themselves for the future. His only lifeline is Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), a difficult art dealer who he needs to convince to sponsor his work visa so he can pursue his (also weird) dream of making quirky toys for Hasbro.
Recently, Torres sat down with Polygon over Zoom to talk about the autobiographical aspects of Problemista, his interest in inanimate objects, and why people who use voice memos are just the worst.
