The wonderfully weird charms of former SNL favorite Julio Torres transformed 2024’s Problemista into one of the best movies this year. It was for this specific reason that I went into HBO’s comedy series, Fantasmas, with a certain set of expectations. I wanted to see more of the weirdo charm that made Problemista feel so special in many ways. Helmed once again by Torres (who created, stars, directs, and writes), this six-episode debut season will no doubt feel right at home for fans of the strange and unusual of sketch comedy television such as Tim and Eric: Awesome Show, Great Job! The glimmers of greatness are dulled a little by the attempts to string everything together with a flimsy narrative. The duties taken on by Torres are indeed commendable, and ultimately make for an entertaining, if slightly unsatisfying, journey through the world of his imagination.
Right off the bat, for those curious about the strange name of Fantasmas, we find out very quickly as our central character named (what else?) Julio meets with an executive. Julio suggests production on a clear-colored crayon, pitching the name of it as “fantasmas.” The executive wants to lose the plural on the end, especially since color names are typically just singular. Julio agrees to lose the ‘s,’ but his show remains titled Fantasmas, after that clear-colored crayon. It is all more than a bit off-kilter to thrust us right into this show’s world in this manner, but Julio Torres has a very specific vision here, and we have no choice but to follow along. Torres wastes no time establishing many constants that will appear in every episode, including his robot assistant, BIBO, and his publicist, Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez). BIBO insists that the urgent letters from his landlord need to be opened—clear that he must vacate his apartment, Julio becomes forced to recalibrate his life, and to figure out a way to provide a “proof of existence” to progress.
Throughout all six episodes of the season, Julio travels with an exclusive driver who even has his very own Chester Car app. Promising all types of benefits, Chester (Tomas Matos) becomes a constant voice of reason for Julio as he grapples with many different decisions and directions. This also gives us an excuse to enjoy Chester’s various hair and outfit changes, and to experience different sketches playing on the television in his car. One of the best in my opinion is the strange ALF-esque sitcom, titled MELF, that thrusts us into the lives of a family living with a cutesy puppet-alien obsessed with cookies and spaghetti from another dimension. Paul Dano plays the patriarch, who falls in love with MELF and eventually breaks up his entire family to start a life with MELF. Dano may seem like a pretty big name to show up, but he is simply the first in a long line of exciting celebrity cameos and throwaway roles, including Emma Stone, Dylan O’Brien, Steve Buscemi, Kim Petras, Tilda Swinton, Jaboukie Young-White, Dominique Jackson, and many more.
As with any sketch comedy series, what works really works, and what doesn’t kind of falls flat. Per usual, the lesser stuff tends to fall by the wayside, and the more memorable elements stick out to viewers. These include, but are not limited to: an elf suing Santa Clause, an insurance customer service representative needing to call a separate customer service rep, a weird mirror bug that sucks the life out of people when they fail to embrace the online algorithm, exploiting people to get richer, an extended ad about dressing up strictly-female toilets, and many others. The laugh-out-loud funny skits and the misfires are practically on an equal playing field, yet there are more than a few standouts. Fantasmas may be slightly different in this regard, as it still gives the character Julio a specific narrative and direction that feels as random as it is unnecessary. Everything else around him can shift and change and vary in quality, but at the end of the day, we are still following Julio on his search for existence.
Running just six episodes, the narrative fails to end in a satisfying way. If anything, the head-scratching conclusion will have people questioning whether they have just missed a major development. While I could see this continuing into a second season, I am not convinced the show ever ends up justifying its own existence. Glimmers of clever ridiculousness kept me watching to the bitter end regardless of the level of quality each respective sketch earns. Julio Torres would be better off in the feature film arena, where he clearly thrives. We are all rooting for you!
Drift into the bizarre quirk of Fantasmas, debuting on Friday, June 7th, on HBO, and streaming exclusively on Max.
