First of all, this is a well-made movie, meticulously packaged. A fun comedy with visual metaphors on one hand and a harsh view of reality on the other, it balances both well in a way that gets through to you like a refreshing splash of cold seltzer on a hot summer day... No? Just me with my seltzer? Fine then.

This movie is rising to the challenge of the cliche story of an immigrant who follows the American dream in modern times and nails it. To a drywall. In a make-shift gallery for an impossible employer. It works, and it works well. As a person who emigrated to the US at 16, I remember some of the ridiculous chicken-egg mazes, and Torres's (who's both the brain behind the movie and the main actor) artistic talent representing those is spot-on. The pressure to make money while being forbidden to get paid at the same time is one such example. The stereotype of the clueless Columbia student who has his parents pay his problems away ("What's a Visa?") is another element that strikes close to home. And that's just the main layer. There's so much more happening at the same time.

The relationship between Alejandro (Julio Torres) and Tilda Swinton (Elizabeth) is worth another short film in itself. If you have ever worked at an IT helpdesk (or, frankly, any retail situation with that one annoying customer), beware: you will melt into your seat in a series of cringes. At the same time, this is a friendship, borderline romantic but still not, kind of reverse mother-son (more like dad-daughter?) kind of thing. It's weird; you have to experience the chemistry to understand what I mean.

Delivering ordinary daily American phenomenon, like a Bushwick apartment in New York complete with its roommates, is what Torres seems to excel at in a way that only those who experienced themselves can appreciate for all its colorful yet realistic descriptions. Another example is [Larry Owens playing Craiglist](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15078804/), which would make you scratch your head before you see the movie, but after you do, you'd never be able to look at that site the same way again. It makes so much sense to me now I think Owen's face (in that suit) should become its official logo.

At the same time, the movie also portrays the relationship between Alejandro and his mom as a magical story, complete with castles and a Narrator (Isabella Rossellini), which is a brilliant look at nostalgia that loses its charm as we grow old and starts showing cracks and leaks as we grow older, giving way to different kind of fantasies.

And yet, there's more. Sexual darkens. Over-the-top art exhibitions and egos. Even more relationships. Somehow, it all fits, it all works, and it is packed away with a ribbon at the end. I'm not sure how this is possible in one movie, but he did it. This is a keeper.