Magic Farm, 2025.
Written and Directed by Amalia Ulman.
Starring Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Simon Rex, Amalia Ulman, Joe Apollonio, Camila del Campo, and Valeria Lois.
SYNOPSIS:
A media crew mistakenly ends up in the wrong country while trying to profile a musician. As they collaborate with locals to create a viral trend, relationships form amid an unfolding health crisis.
Whether the idea is solid, tired, or will produce interesting satire, at the very least, the prologue of writer/director/co-star Amalia Ulman’s Magic Farm seems to set up a film that knows what it wants to do. That opening depicts a self-absorbed, tacky documentary crew led by Chloe Sevigny’s Edina, who is prepping to do a story on pointy Mexican hats (something silly along those lines), suggesting that their interest in other cultures is either a façade or woefully misguided, as only stereotypically dumb Americans could be. It plays like a film ready to take zany news coverage and influencer culture down a few notches, which might have been fine if executed well.
However, once the crew heads to Argentina for another ridiculous story that’s impossible to imagine genuinely curious minded individuals caring about – which also involves a boneheaded mistake traveling to the wrong country, meaning they have to scrap together alternate, fake it until you make your plans – Amalia Ulman’s film somewhat ditches the farcical angle while overestimating the extent to which viewers will care about the personal lives of these Americans.
This includes Simon Rex’s Dave, the husband of Edina, who exits the majority of the film fairly early on (only reappearing through FaceTime) to handle some sexual misconduct allegations everyone is aware of, but his wife. In a similar boat is Alex Wolff’s Jeff, who might have transmitted an STD to his previous partner and certainly sleeps around without considering the emotions of others. As such, he is perpetually looking to get laid on the job and catches the eye of one of the locals, the terminally online Manchi (Camila del Campo), a horny hopeless romantic with a skin condition (visible stains on her face and parts of her body) down to test the waters with an American.
Meanwhile, Justin (Joe Apollonio) develops a bond with the warm-hearted, role-model father of the hotel receptionist (Guillermo Jacubowicz), which allows him to process some of his childhood issues with his own father. Then there is Elena (Amalia Ulman), an Argentine-American woman who is part of the crew, also serving as a translator, and is in the early stages of pregnancy.
As the crew interact with the locals – some of which we also get to know and whom come across as far more interesting than the Americans – cinematographer Carlos Rigo deploys some documentary-like framing whilst also indulging in copious amounts of fisheye lens shots presumably meant to symbolize their awkward, clueless nature of Americans bumbling through a foreign land and customs they don’t understand. There is no denying that Amalia Ulman sees the locals for their humanity and is also addressing a critical issue regarding the state of what is considered news and how what should be regarded as news either slips under the radar or fails to receive the necessary attention, potentially endangering citizens in the process.
Unfortunately, the comedic pivot to creating a fake cult through the town locals to cover isn’t nearly as funny or outrageously entertaining as that concept sounds. Again, it also doesn’t help that Magic Farm is overly concerned with the messy lives of these Americans with unsatisfactory plot threads and characterization, flatlining the opportunity for satire. In the film’s defense, a one-note movie about idiotic Americans also would have tested patience.
There are more layers and drama to uncover from the locals, especially a facially different dwarf named Mateo, who is consistently underestimated due to those disabilities, regularly surprising Jeff regarding fulfilling aspects of his life, which could have also made the more significant point of the film hit harder. There is anything but magic in Magic Farm.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
