PalCinema Review: Magic Farm

Chloe Sevigny leads a documentary crew to the wrong Latin American country

June 22, 2025

FILM: MAGIC FARM

DIRECTED BY: AMALIA ULMAN,

STARRING: AMALIA ULMAN, CHLOE SEVIGNY, JOE APOLLONIO

RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars

By Dan Pal

Sometimes it’s just fun being around certain characters. Amalia Ulman’s film Magic Farm is filled with people we might know and others that may be nothing like what we might expect. That’s part of the great charm of this film. Don’t focus too much on the somewhat meandering plot, it’s the characters that we want to spend time with for a few days.

Chloe Sevigny plays Edna, the head of a documentary crew trying to find “crazy subcultures” around the world. They initially plan on profiling a musician but end up in the wrong Latin American country. As such, they try to work with what they have and even consider making a fake documentary. They’re in a very small, rural community in Argentina where things are generally run down. The only way to get good internet service is to climb up a tree. Mosquitos reside in the crew’s hotel. The people available to profile are far from ideal. The dancers aren’t very good and the musicians make music that one crew member thinks sound like ducks.

What the film we watch becomes is less of a film about moviemaking and more a character driven story about the various personal issues among the crew and locals. There’s a pregnancy, at least one budding romance, a young woman with significant large blotches on her face and body, a confident Tik tok performer with premature aging syndrome, and a missing subject (he’s in a different country.) They’re all very interesting characters that are played, like the rest of the film, with a lot of lightness and familiarity.

Among the primary characters, Sevigny’s Edna is the head honcho on set after her colleague (played by Simon Rex) leaves rather suddenly as the production is about to begin. Sevigny doesn’t stray too far from the persona she’s created across many films and television series but she expresses heart beneath her gruff and frustrated exterior. Director Ulman also plays a director in the film. She’s the only character that speaks any real Spanish. The others, Americans, make it clear they don’t understand what some of the locals are saying. They’re a symbol of insensitive Americans who expect everyone to understand their language. Still, they come across as rather lovable. Alex Wolff is great as frustrated and easily tearful crew member Jeff. Joe Apollonio is also charming as boom operator Justin, who proudly wears 1970s fashions and skateboards around the village.

There’s also a lot of camera experimentation from Ulman with points of view from the perspectives of said skateboards, dogs, and cats. There’s even an homage to one of the classic scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest which is very effectively executed. Generally, the film has the look and feel of a fairly low budget 90s independent film, something that Richard Linklater or Noah Baumbach might have directed at the time. There are some plot details that are glossed over and never really completed as full storylines such as the pregnancy and a budding same-sex relationship. Some of the scenes, shots, and lines also occasionally feel a bit random and not really contributing to an overall plot. However, there’s enough dry wit and character development to make the film appealing and allows us to feel as if we are there while all of this chaos is ensuing. There are also a few social-political undertones that explain why the region itself may have experienced its downturn and health issues.

Magic Farm is great to see for its characters, setting, and abundance of humor. I’d love to spend more time with this group, for better or for worse.

Magic Farm is currently streaming on MUBI and is available for rent/purchase on Amazon Prime.

What do you think?!

For the archive of PalCinema reviews, click here.