In the delectably queer (in every sense of the word) new HBO comedy series Fantasmas, creator-writer-director-star Julio Torres (Los Espooskys, Problemista) plays a thirty-something creative named Julio Torres. He lives in a heightened, only-ever-so-slightly surreal version of New York City with his trusty robot assistant Bibo (voiced by Joe Rumrill), an aspiring actor eyeing human roles. Early in the first episode, Julio pitches a typically idiosyncratic idea to Crayola Crayons, that has been keeping him awake at night, for a transparent “colour” which represents the intangible emotional space between us. The executives are unconvinced, but Julio’s proposed name for the clear crayon, Fantasmas, gives the show its title.
Struck by lightening as a child, Julio received a doctor’s note that enabled him to skip gym class for the rest of his life (many a gay kid’s fantasy). It is an incident that appears to have left him a little neurotic with a tendency for hypochondria that is exacerbated by the fact that he has too much time on his hands. In a connecting narrative that runs throughout this six-episode season, Julio becomes convinced that what he has always been told is a birthmark on his neck is actually something more sinister and that it is growing. He believes the only way that he can get his nonchalant, clock-watching medical practitioner (Maddie Corman) to arrange a biopsy for him is to retrieve a gold oyster-shaped earring—that recently came into his possession and he quickly mislaid—that happens to be exactly the same size as the mark, to prove that it has grown. This leads him on an ever-expanding odyssey in the microcosm of Torres’ vision of New York, a city that’s mired in bureaucracy, where the next subway train is always more than two hours away, and everything is owned by big banks and corporations, with ExxonMobil looming large.
Another stumbling block he soon encounters is his lack of “proof of existence”, an ID card that’s increasingly required by the city’s authorities to participate in every aspect of daily life—including securing accommodation and taking public transport—which leaves immigrant GrubHub delivery guy (a wonderful Bernardo Velasco, who co-starred with Torres in Los Espookys) unable to move around the city and desperately attempting to throw cash at the high-tech subway entrance gate card reader. Intent on making life complicated for himself, Julio refuses to cave into the system and deices to seek an exemption from needing proof that he exists. This only leads to another process with similarly inaccessible requirements to the real US Immigration’s “alien of extraordinary ability” visa.
Performance artist Vanesja (multidisciplinary artist Martine, Zackary’s Drucker’s LGBTQ+ highlight of 2023, who also appeared in Los Espookys and gave an indelible turn in Sebastián Silva’s Rotting In the Sun), has been posing as Julio’s agent for so long that she has started to actually do the work of an agent. As she sets about searching for jobs that will help secure Julio’s exempt status, she also has a dejected, suddenly socially conscious TV star, Dustin (Dylan O’Brien), on her books, whom she dresses in her own striking red lingerie for a premiere after she reports that his luggage has gone missing. Meanwhile, Julio’s tetchy, over-sensitive Smurf-like social media manager, Pirulinpinpina (Torres), attempts to make him a viral sensation with random posts that seem unlikely to help.
As Julio makes his way around the city, we are drawn into the lives of those he encounters, leading to extended scenes that feel like stand-alone comedy sketches. Many of which are instant late night cult comedy classics. One of the sheer delights of Fantasmas is how tangential some of these scenes are to the lead character’s narrative and how unexpectedly they are led into. It is fun to see some characters resurface in subsequent episodes, while others only make one appearance, so savour them while you can. Across the season, these vignettes build to form a beautifully eccentric interconnected mosaic, that at turns satirizes, exaggerates, or simply puts an offbeat magnifying glass on contemporary city life, leading to a beautifully meta finale.
Torres brings a genius deadpan sincerity to his character, which draws us in and enables the rest of the cast to paint with broader strokes in more vivid colours. With a captivating screen presence, Martine delivers a low-key tour-de-force performance as Vanesja that is pure bliss to witness throughout the season. Another recurring character, Chester (a wonderfully vibrant Tomás Matos, best-known for Fire Island, making the most of every moment they’re on screen) is an entrepreneurial rideshare driver who has created their own app, where they are the only driver and they pick up multiple passengers at the same time, with little regard for their conflicting destinations. It is in the back of Chester’s car where Julio gets drawn into watching highlights of an ALF-like sitcom (featuring Paul Dano, River L. Ramirez, and Sunita Mani) where a suburban family decides to take in a fluffy extraterrestrial that has found its way into their home. Later in the season, we get pulled into watching the trial that Chester is fixated with, involving an elf (Bowen Yang) who is taking Santa to court over workers’ rights.
Torres, who had a stint writing on Saturday Night Live, makes bold, continually surprising choices with his writing and direction here, reveling in the beats and details of each scene which sometimes go on for longer than you would expect, which is often what gives them real impact as they linger and makes the comedy sing. The humour ranges from gentle to wry, and from the laugh-out-loud sublimely ridiculous to more cerebral moments to be relished. Torres has created a world which allows for delicate tonal shifts, with a few poignant touches and some occasional, particularly effective, dark turns.
Among the many highlights, is a sequence involving a gay nightclub for hamsters, some wearing tiny little harnesses (television does not get much better than this), that features the voice talents of John Early, and Dicks The Musical’s Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson. Then there’s Aidy Bryant as a woman committed to selling her services as a designer of bespoke clothes for toilets and Kate Berlant working as a theme park superhero by day and diner waitress by night. While in the final episode, there is an exceptionally enjoyable dive into the behind the scenes machinations of a Real Housewives inspired parody, The True Women of New York, featuring the dream ensemble of Cole Escola, Rosie Perez, Rachel Dratch, and Emma Stone (who also serves as executive producer on Fantasmas). As the season unfurls, also look out for Torres’ Los Espookys’ co-creator Ana Fabrega, and appearances from Dominique Jackson, May Hong, James Scully, Kim Petras, Princess Nokia, Julia Fox, Spike Einbinder, Ziwe, Amy Zimmer, and Steve Buscemi as the letter Q. And listen out for Tilda Swinton and Patti Harrison.
One of the thrills of Fantasmas is that these performers are all appearing in the same show, as if Torres was creating his ultimate fantasy dinner party guest list, and everyone RSVP’d yes. One of my favourite episodes, “The Little Ones”, episode five, for instance features guest star turns from Tommy Dorfman, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Dylan O’Brien, and indie pop star and actor Boy Radio (You Can’t Stay Here, Drag Me To Dinner) making an assured and hilarious television comedy debut, regaling a tale of his diminutive roommates and a memorable one-night stand. As Boy Radio recounts his story to a friend (Michael Graceffa), in the midst of long wait for the subway, he throws in details about his life—like his go-go shift at the club (which you can catch a glimpse of in the trailer) or douching before things get intimate with the guy he met there—in a way that’s so casual and typical of how queerness is woven into the fabric of this show. It is never laboured, signposted, or othered, and no character is defined by their queerness. While Fantasmas skewers a more contrived approach to incorporating various identities and their intersections.
Fantasmas makes for a satisfying counterpart to Torres’ debut feature Problemista, with some echoes in themes and characters, like the flashbacks to childhood, the imaginative and outlandish ideas pitched to big corporations, and the challenges faced by immigrants that many never stop to consider. Whereas Problemista had a more real-world New York City setting, Fantasmas takes place on a beautifully crafted urban rendering that is intended to look like a set, complete with visible scaffolding holding it up. This is thanks to standout work by production designer Tommaso Ortino, art director Michael Ahern, and set decorator Philippa Culpepper. Chloe Karmin’s costume design has real flair too, as it quickly establishes each character, while adding layers to the show’s off-the-wall aesthetic. The series reunites Torres with his Problemista composer Robert Ouyang Rusli who gives the show an ethereal, dreamy score and delivers some surprsing breakout dance moments (listen out for the Bibo track on one of the end credits sequences). The entire season is shot by frequent Noah Baumbach cinematographer Sam Levy, who brings saturated colours and an intoxicating immediacy to the look of the series, giving it an almost hyperreal quality juxtaposed with the artifice of the sets.
In a city where we’re so often all living in bubbles of self-absorption, focused on the minutiae of our own individual lives—distracted by reality television, media circus trials, and social media noise—we are unavoidably always bumping up against each other. Something this show insightfully captures, while having a hell of a lot of fun doing so. As with most great comedy, and great art in general for that matter, not everyone will immediately “get it”, and who knows, maybe this isn’t for you. Torres’ vision isn’t just quirky, it’s unique, so you might feel a little unmoored if you are new to his work. For those coming to this as fans of Los Espookys and Problemitsa, there’s much to delight in. In any case, my advice would be if you are initially unsure about this show, stick with it and you will be rewarded. Like the gold oyster-shaped earring Julio spends much of the season trying to retrieve, Fantasmas is a rare gem and for all its imagination, art, and heart, the world feels like a better place for its existence.
By James Kleinmann
FANTASMAS debuts Friday, June 7th at 11pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes of the six-episode season will debut weekly.
NewFest Pride will preview the first two episodes at 8pm on Saturday, June 1st, 2024 at SVA Theatre. Tickets are available through NewFest Pride’s All Access Pass.
On Sunday, June 2nd at 5pm there will also be a sneak peak of the first two episodes of the series, followed by an in-person talkback with Torres and cast members, at Whyte Hall, Fire Island Pines hosted by non-profit BOFFO. Tickets are available at BOFFO.art.
