Magic Farm: A Solid Ensemble-Driven Indie Comedy

In 2021, writer/director Amalia Ulman made a splash on the indie scene with her debut feature, El Planeta. Premiering at that year’s Sundance Film Festival, the film would go on to receive two Gotham Awards nominations for Best Screenplay and Breakthrough Performer. Now, four years later, Ulman’s sophomore effort, Magic Farm, is upon us. The film tells the story of a documentary TV crew producing a program about unique subcultures across the world. Believing they had traveled to San Cristobal, Argentina to film their latest episode on an unusual local musician known as Super Carlitos. However, little did they know, they found themselves in the wrong country and would soon have to create a musical phenomenon from scratch in order to save the show.

Similar to Ulman’s debut feature, Magic Farm dives into the intricacies of a singular style of comedy used to criticize modernity. While El Planeta is a social commentary on the middle class and the pathetic aspect of holding a fake appearance, her latest feature uses multiple dissonances to create a sensation of awkwardness. Ulman puts cameras on animals’ foreheads to deliver an unusual and constant cumbia score, a typical musical style from South America. The result is a comical musing of the ordinary life, delivering uncomfortable interactions between the constantly clashing New York based American crew and the surrounding community of Argentinian locals.

Featuring a star-studded cast of indie darlings, including the likes of Sevigny, Wolff, and Rex, they deliver strong performances in different ways. Sevigny’s Edna is the mature host of the story; however, she does not see much in the way of character development. Similarly, Rex makes the most of his limited screen time, making what essentially was a cameo-like performance as Dave. Yet, Wolff shines portraying Jeff, a nuanced and complex producer saddled with relationship problems. He is more interested in his love life than finishing their job there, a fact that made for plenty of funny interactions between Edna and Camila del Campo’s Manchi.

That being said, Magic Farm feels like a film with little to dive into in terms of story, instead favoring the confusing dynamic between its characters. It is necessary to enjoy its weirdness as it lacks a stronger narrative sense. Yet, it creates moments of fascinating comedic interactions, such as the casting for the documentary crew’s made-up musical trend, and the crew meetings in the house of Popa (Valeria Lois). Ultimately, the film’s comedy lies in their difficulty communicating with the locals and the subversion of their relationship with their unfamiliar surroundings. Initially wanting to leave as soon as possible, that sentiment would change by the end as the village that hosted them left a long lasting impact on the crew.

While Magic Farm may not be as strong as Amalia Ulman’s first feature, it thrives at mining awkward situations for comedy and its study of media production in the 2020s. Meanwhile, Alex Wolff is a standout in a film that also poorly uses a star like Chloë Sevigny. In the end, it marks a solid sophomore effort by a talented filmmaker with a promising future.

Score: 70/100

still courtesy of MUBI

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.