Magic Farm

What on earth makes this recorded mumblings a film? I have been watching this for an hour now and I still don't know why I'm watching it. Where is the motivation, drive, dramatic arc or anything that makes a film a film? Weird is the last resort for the contemporary wannabe and it still does not suffice. High saturation doesn't make things interesting, nor the actors with physical disadvantage. This is not even weird or unconventional actually. It's just nothing and waste of time.

The director is lucky to have dragged Sevigny into the project who is growing irrelevant by the minute and wants to decorate herself with something "arty". The rest of the cast is just happy to be in ANY film, as it seems and they are having this excursion and doing nothing at all - not even that, actually.

5.8 rating is incredibly overrated.

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

I can imagine tons of people will hate this movie because from my screening, viewers around seemed really unimpressed. However, for myself, a strange bizarre satire comedy are genres I enjoy and this piece is weird, but the physical comedy elements, weird style and atmosphere and direction provides a weird journey that is quite interesting.

The director clearly understands the deadpan and non-serious tones that are explored throughout the story. Providing some interesting dynamics of the characters, the narrative and tone. Although I do admit the characters are a bit thin and some dialogue does feel like something from a bad VICE Media article, it's strangeness still was enjoyable to observe.

The performances are all solid though I wasn't really wowed by most of the acting. There are some good musical tracks and color presentations. I did found some of the comedic elements to be a bit on the nose and it didn't really seemed to be at its peak.

Overall, it isn't going to work for everyone but I enjoyed it.

Awarding this thing 10 stars is only possible if you've never seen a film before, so please take those reviews with a metric ton of salt.

Let's be clear: what you're watching isn't a movie so much as a term-paper video project accidentally upgraded to feature length because a couple of C-list celebrities wandered onto the set. Simon Rex-evidently advertised a lot in the promotional material-takes one look at the script, clocks roughly six minutes on screen, and bolts faster than you can say "day-rate."

Plot? Stakes? Try again. A ragtag videography crew descends on a "poorish" Argentine town in search of a "viral" town celebrity, discovers they've got the wrong hamlet, then decides to manufacture their own meme instead. Surely their grand stunt will be deliriously unhinged, humorously culturally tone-deaf, or at least mildly amusing, right?

Wrong. Their big idea is... people dancing with gift bows on their heads. Ha. So zany!

The writing oozes the worst kind of coastal-hipster smugness: when a childish routine doesn't quite land you can also close it out with a joke about ketamine. Characters arrive pre-flattened: the serial philanderer, the mildly gay guy with hair that looks like a wig (apparently being "kinda gay" with the town's "family motel" owner is his whole personality and character arc), the perpetually seething woman (Sevigny does nothing in this film but get blasé).

What about the locals? Certainly they're colorful in some way. Nope. Mostly reduced to "look, deformities!" punchlines-because nothing says comedy like gawking at disabilities and then gasping, "He has a girlfriend? Hilarious!"

The film's approach to filming some of the other locals is equally disgusting. It really just amounts to: "can you believe these talentless hicks are actually auditioning for our talent show? How silly of them." The irony is the filmmaker casts herself as one of the members of the videography team and can't seem to get a single line out without it sounding like it's read off a blurry teleprompter. So pot meet kettle.

Visually, it's GoPro roulette: cameras duct-taped to dogs, refrigerators, the back of a motorbike-anything to scream "quirky" while contributing zip to theme or story. It's filmmaking by Pinterest board: random kooky angles in lieu of ideas.

In short, the film is equal-opportunity offensive-puerile to its core and yet somehow blissfully too lazy to do any serious lampooning. If you manage to finish the runtime (despite being short, the scenes drag out absurdly long with no punchline), award yourself ten stars; you've demonstrated more endurance than the filmmakers ever did creativity.

First of all, let's talk about the camerawork. Innovative isn't quite enough. This might be revolutionary. A lot of the camera placement has been completely unused in a feature film to my knowledge. The start of a new age. This is like Godard level when it come to evolution of filmmaking. That 360 cam used at the beginning is just the start. The chosen lenses were so intentional. They also put cameras on dogs. There are other films that feature filming via drones, smart phones, Go-Pros, what have you. This film utilizes some of these new methods but lacks all corniness. It's just done perfectly.

That's not even to mention the editing/transitions, which fall under the same descriptors. Also, the color palette shown in every shot is just gorgeous. I'm not deaf but deaf people might could fully understand the plot based off the visuals with no subs, that's just how well this is done. Check me if I'm out of pocket.

Then we get to the substance of the film. The idea of white liberals going to another country to find something "interesting" to document for the entertainment of other white people. They meet a number of vastly interesting people, and decide that none of them are quite good (American popular internet culture) enough. A constant displeasure of a perceived lesser culture. Wonderfully displayed. So much more to say about what happens in this film, but a lot of it just comes off as a great story.

Funny line: "Why do you speak English so well?" "Why do you speak Spanish so bad?"

Very cool to see Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, and Simon Rex all utilized in the same film. I believe they are underrated. I hope that Guillermo Jacubowicz gets parts in 100 films from this, he is fantastic in his role.

This is like God's-eye-view filmmaking.

They gotta give Amalia Ulman a dillion dollars to make whatever other films she has ideas about. I'm completely sold. I'm watching El Planeta tomorrow. Thank you for making me so excited about the future of film.

Magic Farm is totally unhinged in the best way- It's messy, chaotic, and weirdly brilliant.

Amalia Ulman mixes satire, lo-fi aesthetics, and deadpan humor into something that feels both homemade and razor-sharp. Chloë Sevigny and Simon Rex are hilarious as clueless outsiders, but the real standout is Camila del Campo, the girl with the birthmark. She's like a femme fatale, totally sure of herself, and it's amazing to see how she owns every scene she's in.

Also, the little guy (you'll know him when you see him) gives a surprisingly touching performance that adds heart to all the absurdity.

You never really know where the story is going, but that's part of the fun. If you're into strange, smart, and fearless films, Magic Farm is unforgettable.

I'm still thinking about it.