Fantasmas’ imaginative and prescient of the long run is a dystopian dreamland

The avant-garde weirdness and virtually created artistry of Fantasmas — Max’s new sequence from Problemista author / director Julio Torres — makes it appear infinitely extra whimsical and lighthearted than most different TV exhibits about folks dwelling within the robot-filled near-future. However along with being a narrative a few misunderstood artist attempting to outlive in a world hostile towards creativity, Fantasmas’ first season has been certainly one of this yr’s most sensible examinations of the torturous expertise we generally check with as “being (too) online.”

The hire is lengthy overdue as Fantasmas first introduces multidisciplinary artist Julio (Torres), who, after a number of threatening letters from his landlord, finds himself in determined want of a Proof of Existence ID with a view to maintain his residence. In Fantasmas’ heightened spin on New York Metropolis, getting ahold of 1’s Proof of Existence is simple sufficient if you happen to can present a social safety quantity, a credit score rating, or reveal that you just’re an distinctive particular person like Beyoncé.

However other than Julio’s agent Vanesja (Martine Gutierrez) — the “J” is silent — few folks can respect his uncooked expertise for designing issues like clear crayons and speaking with our bodies of water (Tilda Swinton). And whereas the ID’s type of essential to stay freely and get a job, the concept of getting to show that he exists is so mind-boggling to Julio that he insists on going with out one on precept.

As a result of Julio’s robotic assistant Bibo (Joe Rumrill) isn’t attempting to kill him, and his want for an residence turns into subsumed in a quest to discover a misplaced oyster-shaped earring, Fantasmas doesn’t look or really feel like many different latest tales about dystopian futures. However the present’s jokes about Zappos turning into a movie studio and Exxon stepping into the multi-family actual property enterprise each underline the diploma to which individuals’s lives have grow to be ensnared in corporate-owned techniques that applied sciences just like the Proof of Existence feed into.

Although Fantasmas isn’t going for a Matrix-style narrative about people preventing machines, it turns into simpler to learn as a narrative about resisting the commodification of 1’s whole being as Julio encounters different eccentrics like Chester (Tomas Matos) — a cab driver rallying towards Uber together with his one-man ridesharing service — reluctant to join Proof of Existence.

Fantasmas offsets the heft of its deeper themes through the use of a sequence of absurdist skits to construct a whole fantastical world round Julio. His social media supervisor is a minuscule gnome who refuses to take any suggestions, and his hunt for the earring leads him to a former queer hamster nightclub that has been gentrified right into a tiny CVS. The present revels in its personal silliness as a lot because it does its cleverness, which is a part of why it seldom feels as if it’s talking right down to you in regards to the perils of trusting social media algorithms (Dominique Jackson).

As batshit (constructive) as Fantasmas might sound, with its plots about soul-sucking demons catfishing males on Grindr and attire for bathrooms, the present presents them as issues that folks have grow to be inured to with time and fixed encouragement to simply accept the brand new norm.

That final level specifically has a captivating manner of creating Julio’s journey really feel similar to the expertise of being bombarded with noise on the web that’s actually simply meant to extract engagement reasonably than providing you with one thing you really need. However in a world like ours that’s at the moment so dedicated to cranking that noise up at each alternative, Fantasmas’ willingness to poke enjoyable at it has made the present a stunning summer season TV gem.

Fantasmas’ first season is now streaming on Max.