| Ponyboi | |
| Director: | Esteban Arango |
| Music: | Cristobal Tapia de Veer |
| Cinematography: | Ed Wu |
| Editing: | Hanna Park |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Ponyboi is a 2024 American thriller directed by Esteban Arango, from a screenplay by River Gallo. It is based upon the 2019 short film of the same name by Gallo. It stars Gallo, Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Pedretti, Murray Bartlett and Indya Moore.
It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.
On Valentine's Day, in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker is working at a laundromat with his pregnant best friend, Angel. He spends his nights with Vinnie, his secret lover and pimp who is also the father of Angel's child. However, when a drug deal goes bad, he finds himself on the run from the mob.[2] [3]
In December 2022, it was announced River Gallo, Dylan O'Brien, Victoria Pedretti, and Indya Moore had joined the cast of the film, with Esteban Arango directing from a screenplay by Gallo.[4]
Principal photography concluded by December 2022.[5]
It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.[6]
The film was positively reviewed in The Hollywood Reporter, which wrote that Gallo's screenplay "achieves something still rare in an industry unnecessarily confused about inclusion: Ponyboi seamlessly integrates its character’s challenges with identity into a propulsive story about a sex worker on the run."[7] Collider wrote that the film was "cinematic gold" that "would be nothing without River Gallo's performance".[8] Variety gave a more critical review, praising Gallo's acting but criticizing the writing as predictable and too reliant on clichés.[9]