Fantasmas’ vision of the future is a dystopian dreamland

The avant-garde weirdness and practically created artistry of Fantasmas — Max’s caller bid from Problemista writer / manager Julio Torres — makes it look infinitely much whimsical and lighthearted than astir different TV shows astir people surviving successful the robot-filled near-future. But successful summation to being a communicative astir a misunderstood creator trying to past successful a satellite hostile toward creativity, Fantasmas’ archetypal play has been 1 of this year’s astir superb examinations of the torturous acquisition we commonly notation to arsenic “being (too) online.”

The rent is agelong past owed arsenic Fantasmas archetypal introduces multidisciplinary creator Julio (Torres), who, aft aggregate threatening letters from his landlord, finds himself successful hopeless request of a Proof of Existence ID successful bid to support his apartment. In Fantasmas’ heightened rotation connected New York City, getting ahold of one’s Proof of Existence is casual capable if you tin supply a societal information number, a recognition score, oregon show that you’re an exceptional idiosyncratic similar Beyoncé.

But speech from Julio’s cause Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez) — the “J” is soundless — fewer radical tin admit his earthy endowment for designing things similar wide crayons and communicating with bodies of h2o (Tilda Swinton). And portion the ID’s benignant of indispensable to unrecorded freely and get a job, the thought of having to beryllium that helium exists is truthful mind-boggling to Julio that helium insists connected going without 1 connected principle.

Because Julio’s robot adjunct Bibo (Joe Rumrill) isn’t trying to termination him, and his need for an apartment becomes subsumed successful a quest to find a mislaid oyster-shaped earring, Fantasmas doesn’t look oregon consciousness similar galore different caller stories astir dystopian futures. But the show’s jokes astir Zappos becoming a movie workplace and Exxon getting into the multi-family existent property concern some underline the grade to which people’s lives person go ensnared successful corporate-owned systems that technologies similar the Proof of Existence provender into.

Though Fantasmas isn’t going for a Matrix-style communicative astir humans warring machines, it becomes easier to work arsenic a communicative astir resisting the commodification of one’s full being arsenic Julio encounters different eccentrics similar Chester (Tomas Matos) — a cab operator rallying against Uber with his one-man ridesharing work — reluctant to motion up for Proof of Existence.

Fantasmas offsets the heft of its deeper themes by utilizing a bid of absurdist skits to physique an full fantastical satellite astir Julio. His societal media manager is simply a minuscule gnome who refuses to instrumentality immoderate feedback, and his hunt for the earring leads him to a erstwhile queer hamster nightclub that has been gentrified into a tiny CVS. The amusement revels successful its ain silliness arsenic overmuch arsenic it does its cleverness, which is portion of wherefore it seldom feels arsenic if it’s speaking down to you astir the perils of trusting societal media algorithms (Dominique Jackson).

As batshit (positive) arsenic Fantasmas might seem, with its plots astir soul-sucking demons catfishing men connected Grindr and dresses for toilets, the amusement presents them arsenic things that radical person go inured to with clip and changeless encouragement to judge the caller norm.

That past constituent successful peculiar has a fascinating mode of making Julio’s travel consciousness precise akin to the acquisition of being bombarded with sound connected the net that’s truly conscionable meant to extract engagement alternatively than giving you thing you really want. But successful a satellite similar ours that’s presently truthful committed to cranking that sound up astatine each opportunity, Fantasmas’ willingness to poke amusive astatine it has made the amusement a astonishing summertime TV gem.

Fantasmas’ archetypal play is present streaming connected Max.