I saw a lot of great movies at Sundance this year, more than expected. I also saw Amalia Ulman’s surreal comedy Magic Farm, a satirization of vapid content creators and self-absorbed Americans starring Chloë Sevigny, Simon Rex, Alex Wolff, Joe Apollonio, and Ulman herself. It wasn’t for me, let’s put it that way. But with MUBI acquiring the film for an April 25th theatrical release, a new trailer for it is here.
Sevigny stars as Edna, the selfish, frustrated host of a TV show about bizarre cultures in faraway countries. When she and her crew arrive in South America to interview a bunny ear-wearing musician they discover, because they’re all morons, that they ended up in the wrong country entirely. With nothing else to do, they work with the locals to create a new viral trend, while also causing chaos in the lives of everyone they encounter.
This one was a tough watch for me, and the trailer does a good job of making Magic Farm look funnier than it is. Individually, Sevigny, Rex, and Wolff each have their fans, and so does Ulman after her 2021 debut El Planeta, so there’s a chance this does well on the art house circuit. To Ulman’s credit, the vibrant color palette and camerawork is often quite striking.
SYNOPSIS: “Fake it ‘til you make it. When a misguided American documentary crew in search of their next viral segment ends up in the wrong town in rural Argentina, chaos ensues. As they collaborate with locals to fake a new music trend, unexpected relationships form and an unfolding health crisis becomes apparent.”
