Fantasmas

Julio Torres never presents a cliche' subject. Go with the flow, and enjoy every delicious moment. Surprises around every single corner awaits. Stories within stories, within stories. He packs each half hour segment like a can of sardines with his enchanting plots. His wardrobe and background settings are done with an artist's vision of both beautiful colors and unique geometric shapes. He may have changed his hair color of choice from blue to orange, but his signature creativity is still woven in the wickedly absurd vignettes. The new characters that he introduces to us like Chester the driver, played by Tomas Matos or Steve Buscemi, as the unforgettable Q, are hysterical! I can't wait for the next episode to come an take me into his magically twisted dreamland of delight.

Created, written, directed, and directly from only the mind of Julio Torres we have a surreal trip into the tale of a lost oyster earring and all the nonsense experienced along the way. Only 6 episodes, its a short series that never really presents a large overarching narrative, but instead introduces us to new vignettes of side characters as they intertwine with Torres' (who plays himself in a seudo-autobiographical character) search for the lost earring, and ultimately dealing with his larger life problems. The whole thing is of course very metaphorical, although can be just often direct, an exaggerated re-telling from the synesthesiac mind of Torres. I quite enjoyed much of the set production, there's some very cool backdrops with projectors, and of course the set pieces and costuming itself, with its almost Pee-wee Herman pop art aesthetic. I was a big fan of Torres' previous work Los Espookys, which landed more for me personally, but was nice seeing many familiar faces return for this piece. For those already fans of Torres I would highly recommend, and for those that like somehow relatable surreal existential laughs, would recommend.

I think that that the negative reviews are borne from people either not understanding or trying to apply logic to what is undoubtedly the quirkiest, funniest series I've ever seen. Highly unconventional, totally bizarre, and above all, hilarious, this series is without logic - don't try to understand it, just strap yourself in for a helluva ride. The humour is not quite American, not quite British, but takes the best elements of both. I was spellbound by it, unable to recall what the original 'plot' was, as the story flew off it multiple tangents, each more surreal and ridiculous than the last. Try it, you won't regret it.

Just watched the first episode of "Fantasmas" and wow, it's crazy funny! 😂 It's kinda like Family Guy, with cutaways from the main story, but the cutaways are more like the early Family Guy episodes - super cool and hilarious. Those cutaways really make this show a gem!

The episode starts off with this weird plot about the letter "Q" and a pink teddy bear. I know, sounds random, right? But trust me, it works! 🐻 The characters are all over the place, but in a good way. Their conversations had me laughing out loud for real.

There's this mix of old-school vibes and really out-there comedy that keeps you watching. Some of the sketches are just bizarre, but in a fun way. If you're into weird humor and stories that don't make sense (in a good way), you should totally check this out!

I'm not usually good at writing reviews, but I had to share how much I enjoyed this. The first episode was so random and funny, I can't wait to see what happens next. It's definitely not your average show, but that's what makes it awesome.

Not sure if everyone will get it, but if you like offbeat stuff, give it a try. It's got this unique vibe that's hard to explain, but it's totally worth watching. Can't believe this is my first IMDB review, but this show deserved it! 😄👍

First episode and it's seemingly more of Julios spontaneous, surreal style of filmmaking. Very quirky, very funny and clearly influenced. There's a unique feel to his projects, like a flow of thoughts coming and going, creatively juggling themes in this dreamlike splash of colours, costumes and alternate worlds similar to something you'd see in "poor things". The first episode picks up many concepts in 30 minutes, though so far they dont really land well enough to impress me (or hopefully these ideas will be explored in following episodes) but based on this being the exact issue I had with his feature film, I'm uncertain if these established themes will be revisited in this "stream of Julio's conscious thoughts" style. I liked his feature "problemista" but he is still clearly in the early stages as a filmmaker.

Check this out if you like funny, surreal, quirky weirdo filmmaking from an exciting upcoming indie director still finding his footing.