Ponyboi

Ponyboi is an 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.

Premise
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 his secret lover and pimp, and the father of Angel's child, Vinnie. However, when a drug deal goes bad, he finds himself on the run from the mob.

Cast

 * River Gallo as Ponyboi
 * Dylan O'Brien as Vinnie
 * Victoria Pedretti as Angel
 * Murray Bartlett as Bruce
 * Indya Moore as Charlie
 * Denis Lambert
 * Stephen Moscatello
 * Aphrodite Armstrong
 * Keith William Richards

Production
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.

Principal photography concluded by December 2022.

Release
It had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024.

Reception
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." Collider wrote that the film was "cinematic gold" that "would be nothing without River Gallo's performance". Variety gave a more critical review, praising Gallo's acting but criticizing the writing as predictable and too reliant on clichés.