There’s no stopping A24 lately. After a successful run with Ti West’s X and then Pearl, plus the upcoming trilogy round-off MaXXXine, the production company has enjoyed a full decade of influential horrors and comedies. Nowadays, A24 mostly sticks to the psychological horror or the occasional slasher, but lest we forget that the Manhattan-based entertainment business started off with humble beginnings, producing the odd comedy here and there.
The first comedy credited under A24 was in 2013 with A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, which also acted as the company’s first-ever release under that brand. Flash-forward 10 years later, and A24 is leading the pack with the likes of Blumhouse and Atomic Monster. As if there weren’t famous enough faces involved with the brand, the White Witch herself, Tilda Swinton, shines in A24’s latest comedy, Problemista.
Any interested parties can check out the trailer above, which clocks in at two and a half minutes — more than enough time for Swinton and her co-star Julio Torres to steal the show. Although he stars as the main character, Torres wears multiple hats as screenwriter, director and producer, alongside our very own Gwen Stacy, Emma Stone. Other talent involved include RZA, Isabella Rosselini and Greta Lee.
Although A24 themselves didn’t reveal a synopsis along with the trailer, we have Rotten Tomatoes handy to summarize the plot for us:
“Alejandro (Julio Torres) is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador, struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast (Tilda Swinton) becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream.”
Although it premiered back in March at South by Southwest, it won’t be landing in theaters for another few months. Although she looks like a terrifying middle-school art teacher, there’s no doubt Swinton will be pulling out all the stops for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work under A24.
Problemista arrives in theaters on August 4, 2023.