Julio Torres’ ‘fantasmas’ Will Shock And Delight You
HBO
While I’d never root for a movie to be delayed, especially not because of a labor strike, I think it may have been divine intervention in the case of Julio Torres’ fantastic directorial debut Problemista. The film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release last August, but was delayed until March of this year due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. That postponement might’ve meant that people had to wait to be welcomed into Torres’ world of just-left-of-reality oddities, but it also means that the film will be fresh in their minds when watching his bold new series Fantasmas, which begins airing June 7 on HBO and streams on Max.
Fantasmas finds Torres once again boring into the minutiae of mundane, everyday activities and objects, this time to create a version of New York City where nothing is ever quite as it seems. (Honestly? Kind of exactly like the real NYC, only with more hazy clouds of green mist.) While the writer and comedian has brought his microscopic evaluations to other TV shows, past comedy specials, and Saturday Night Live sketches, he’s never quite had the right platform to go full-tilt gaga. Movies are a bigger financial risk than television, where you can appeal to the hidden peculiarities of viewers within the safety of their own homes.
And appeal he does. Something is just a little bit off about Fantasmas from the start, until what appears to be a one-off comedic aside about an old, Alf-like sitcom keeps going and going, making it apparent what this series really is. Torres’ show is a collection of brilliantly made, narratively cohesive vignettes where no detail is too small to perfect. Surprise guest stars pop up everywhere, game to be as nutty as Torres wants them to be—even the way Tilda Swinton cameos will shock and delight you, and she’s Tilda Swinton! For fans of art-forward comedy, who deride the unremarkableness of daily life but are fatigued by the overdone, self-deprecating humor of traditional series, Torres’ latest project is a gift. Fantasmas is special because it feels both fresh and familiar, making it one the very best new shows of the year.
