River Gallo‘s neo-noir thriller “Ponyboi” has had a long walk to the screen. The feature is based on actor/writer Gallo’s 2019 short film, which won the New York Short jury grand prize at NewFest31. Gallo reprises the title role for the feature adaptation, which Gallo also writes and produces; Esteban Arango directs.
After premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival as a sales title, “Ponyboi” is finally opening for audiences in theaters. The film centers on Latinx intersex sex worker Ponyboi (Gallo), who works at a New Jersey laundromat where he is employed both as a clerk and drug dealer. The feature unfolds over the course of a single day after Ponyboi is thrown into chaos when a drug deal goes wrong, forcing him to go on the run from the mob.
Dylan O’Brien plays Ponyboi’s pimp, with Victoria Pedretti as Ponyboi’s best friend. Murray Bartlett is cast as a possible client. Indya Moore also stars.
“The road to making ‘Ponyboi’ has been as long as the New Jersey Turnpike — the backdrop of the film and a meaningful location in my childhood landscape,” Gallo said in a press statement. “Despite being raised as a ‘normal’ boy, when I was 12, my parents disclosed I had Anorchia, a condition where my testicles were absent at birth. Without my consent, I was forced to undergo cosmetic plastic surgery and testosterone treatment to present as a cisgender man. I spent years hiding my true identity. When I was 27 years old, I decided to explore this part of myself by making the short film iteration of ‘Ponyboi.’ In that process, I discovered for the first time that the condition I was born with is part of the intersex umbrella, a term for those born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of female or male. I belong to a community of 1.7 percent of the world’s population that has faced stigmatization and still endures non-consensual human rights violations.”
Gallo continued, “This pivotal discovery led me to finally come to terms with my intersex, non-binary, and trans identity. It ignited a passion to tell my story. There exists no representation of intersex people in the current film or television landscape. It is about time! I want ‘Ponyboi’ to be the film I needed when I was younger and felt so lost. I firmly believe ‘Ponyboi’ is poised to start a societal revolution by being the first narrative feature film created by and starring an intersex person to enter the popular culture. It will take an intersex film like ‘Ponyboi’ to touch the hearts of audiences and break through the cultural zeitgeist in order for real change to happen.”
“Ponyboi” recently won the NewFest 2024 Grand Jury Award, with the U.S. Narrative Feature category jurors saying in a statement, “This is a film that, we felt, bridged the space of humanistic storytelling at its highest level. This year, we award ‘Ponyboi‘ for its beautiful writing, performances, and cinematic storytelling. This film is a beautiful blend of personal storytelling that highlights River Gallo’s personal journey and interweaves a daring and propulsive thriller. It’s a brave invitation to a brave new world, blending skill, joy and heart while exciting us about the future of films.”
The IndieWire review also applauded the “unapologetic crime saga for having flourishes of comedy and romance often comes across as excitingly undefinable.”
“Director Arango deftly interprets Gallo’s script bridging the melange of ideas in ways that function to draw a touching portrait of an individual with an abysmally underrepresented gender identity while preserving a darkly comedic tone and making it visually idiosyncratic,” the review reads. “It’s Gallo’s charmingly fierce performance that anchors all the loose pieces. They communicate Ponyboi’s fury, fear, and fated fabulousness with the intentionality and first-hand connection of an artist who has been waiting their entire life to tell this story exactly as fearlessly as this movie does.”
“Ponyboi” premieres in theaters June 27 from FOX Entertainment Studios’ Tideline banner. Check out the trailer below.
