Ponyboi

Ponyboi is a queer cinema genre pastiche that understands a movie can be artful, emotional, and incredibly entertaining.


A sleek film, only occasionally hampered by predictability and contrivance.

Cinema history is short on anyone remotely like Gallo, whose million-watt charisma and one-of-a-kind experience feel wasted in this role.

When the director Esteban Arango’s “Ponyboi” is humming, it’s an inventive crime-thriller.

Through some of the screenplay’s slight formulaic stumbles, it’s Gallo’s charmingly fierce performance that anchors all the loose pieces.

Ponyboi is a revelation of a character who appears to have it all together, and once this mask cracks, he quickly shows that he doesn’t, not even a little bit.

A campy visual feast that's dripping in neon, the style and vibe of this genre-blending LGBTQ+ film features likeable characters, refreshingly blunt sex scenes, and one hell of a wild, intense ride through New Jersey’s underbelly.

At its core, it is an attempt to bring about a fresh point of view into a landscape well-trodden by countless other versions that play to the commonplace spaces previously seen.

Despite some pacing and plot fumbles, Arango’s Ponyboi is a showcase for talented performances with River Gallo and Dylan O’Brien as standouts. Fierce and exciting, Ponyboi predicts a promising future for all involved.

We've seen this story before but thanks to Gallo's sharp screenplay & Arango's direction, Ponyboi goes beyond cliché for something more profound.