Magic Farm Review: Not What You Think It’s About

With stunning visual style, hilarious dynamics and a twist that will hit you at the very end, Magic Farm is an irresistible gem from writer-director Amalia Ulman.

Magic Farm doesn’t waste any time introducing us to its protagonists, dropping us right in the middle of the action. We’re in a crowded New York street, and a film crew is recording a video, introducing a new episode in their series about “crazy subcultures around the world”. But if you’re thinking about punks, skaters, bikers, and that sort of thing, think again; here, we’re talking about dancers in Mexican pointy boots, Bolivian teen exorcists, Kratom tycoons, and, ahem, “Brazilian wandering spiders that give you a boner”. When we next meet the team, one year later, they’re off to South America, looking for a bunny ear-wearing musician with the promising name of Super Carlitos.

Of course, we’re not talking about a professional film crew here: our five well-meaning protagonists couldn’t be less organized, their lack of business acumen matched only by their inability to adapt to the places they visit, or even do simple things like reading the room or not getting scammed in the most obvious ways. Needless to say, nothing has changed over the course of a year, when the perennially tired, unappeasable Edna (Chloë Sevigny, of Bones and All), host of the show, is ready to leave the States again. Accompanying her are her oblivious boyfriend/business partner Dave (Simon Rex, of The Sweet East), the Spanish speaking, secretly pregnant camerawoman Elena (Ulman), the not-so-secretly gay sound recordist Justin (Joe Apollonio, of Young Sheldon), and the clueless Jeff (Alex Wolff, of Hereditary), a producer with no business acumen. Together, they get to San Cristóbal, Argentina, only to find out that – to quote another iconic movie – this is not the San Cristóbal they’re looking for.

Which means Super Carlitos is definitely not around, but that doesn’t mean our resourceful heroes can’t find
– or, if it comes to it, fabricate – a new trend. “Do you have tequila and/or Xanax?,” Dave asks the receptionist (Guillermo Jacubowicz, of Heroic Losers) at the run-down hotel where they end up crashing, before he flies back to the States and puts an end to a way too short yet still satisfying Simon Rex cameo. As for the rest of the crew, they stay in San Cristóbal, trying to enlist the help of the locals, having decided that creating a trend is not unethical after all – at least, not if it ends up going viral.

But Magic Farm isn’t concerned with the ethics of fabricating reality, even if it’s certainly one of the themes that it touches upon. Ulman cleverly keeps her focus on her characters at all times, and we follow them as they each get distracted from the task at hand in different, improbable ways. Justin, who never fails to channel Boogie Nights in both outfits and attitude, starts helping the house’s receptionist with his chores, which leads to unexpected developments that are both genuinely funny and surprisingly adorable. Just as sweet is Jeff’s interest in Manchi (Camila del Campo), the daughter of a woman named Popa (Valeria Lois) who’s obsessed with anything that’s French and has fond memories of her imaginary affair with Gérard Depardieu.

Manchi has a skin condition, but it doesn’t matter to Jeff, who’s mostly intrigued by her individuality. Popa’s friend Mateo (TikTok star Mateo Vaquer Ruiz de los Llanos, who passed away in January this year) has a condition too – a genetic syndrome that affects his aging – but the film never acknowledges it. But then again, this is a strange town, where climbing a tree will get you phone reception, dogs roam around free at all times, a wise horse sometimes shows up to act as a confidante, and tap water is always, always brown. In fact, most of these things are are actually connected to the main mystery that lies at the heart of this rural Argentinian town – a mystery that was Ulman’s inspiration for making the film, but that you’ll need to discover on your own. When you do, and if you take the time to read the end credits too, you’ll have all the tools to understand that this lighthearted, hilarious comedy is, at the same time, an entirely different, much darker beast.

This is the rare film that fully embodies the characters’ charm with its visual style too, using anything from POV cameras attached to dogs to swift transitions and colorful title cards that imbue Magic Farm with such personality. The acting is fantastic from everyone, and this, combined with an effortlessly engaging script, leads to authentic, sympathetic characters that you’ll be sad to part with when the film is over. After the prize-winning El Planeta, Amalia Ulman delivers another unmissable film at this year’s Berlinale.

Magic Farm premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 16, 2025. Read our Berlin Film Festival reviews!

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