The synopsis for HBO’s Fantasmas, the latest from Julio Torres, is incredibly simple: “The tale of a lost golden oyster.”
But, if you’re familiar at all with Torres’ work, you know the series will be anything but.
The queer, Salvadoran-American actor-comedian-filmmaker first broke through while writing for Saturday Night Live, penning some of the series’ most singular and beloved sketches in recent memory, from “Wells For Boys” to “The Actress,” which notably featured Emma Stone as an overly committed background actress on the set of a gay adult film.
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Since then, he’s delivered an acclaimed comedy special unlike any other in My Favorite Shapes, created and starred in the cult favorite Spanish-language TV series Los Espookys, and made his directorial debut with the brilliant modern fairytale Problemista, which hit theaters earlier this year.
With each successive project, it’s like Torres lets audiences deeper and deeper into his mind, inviting us to find the untapped queer magic in the world around us through his uniquely surrealist lens.
Which brings us back to Fantasmas, which just might be his most unique, surreal, and magically queer project yet. And that’s saying a lot.
Torres writes, directs, and stars in the six-episode series as himself, Julio, on the hunt for a golden oyster earring in New York City. Along the way, the people he encounters and the observations he makes often give way to tangential vignettes that are hilarious, eerie, and incredibly star-studded.
And, honestly, we don’t know any more specifics than that, but by watching Fantasmas intriguing first trailer, we at least have some idea of what’s in store, including…
- Euphoria‘s Alexa Demie rocking one hell of a FAB (“f*ck *ass bob”).
- Steve Buscemi has a mohawk-sporting nihilist musician known as Q.
- Fire Island‘s Tomás Matos in a self-driving car.
- Jaboukie Young-White shaking it for the camera.
- Paul Dano and family laughing it up with a pink, furry puppet.
- Internet boyfriend Dylan O’Brien in lacy, red women’s lingerie. (Don’t worry: we took a screenshot!)
- Aidy Bryant getting intimate with toilets.
- Pop star Kim Petras as a mermaid.
- Talking fruit.
- Go-go dancers.
- Frustrated robots.
- Even more guest stars including Bowen Yang, Julia Fox, Ziwe, and Ana Fabrega.
- And what looks like Emma Stone, Cole Escola, Rachel Dratch, and (maybe?) Rosie Perez in a candy-colored riff on The Real Housewives.
In other words, it looks absolutely bonkers. And we can’t wait to watch.
Fantasmas premieres Friday, June 7 on HBO, debuting new episodes weekly, which will simultaneously be available to stream via Max. Check out its wild first trailer below:
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