There’s a certain crime thriller formula — think New Jersey accents, mob bosses, pimps and sex workers — that’s become a beloved subgenre in the tradition of New Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese. Still, said blueprint often yields a work full of clichés and tired character tropes. These formulaic qualities are the least interesting aspects of Esteban Arango’s 2024 Sundance stunner Ponyboi — written by and starring intersex rights activist and GLAAD Award-winning filmmaker River Gallo — as it extends far beyond a run-of-the-mill organized crime flick.
Ponyboi
4
/5
- Release Date
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January 20, 2024
- Runtime
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103 Minutes
- Director
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Esteban Arango
- Writers
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River Gallo
Based on Gallo’s 2019 short film of the same name, Ponyboi follows the trials and tribulations of an intersex runaway sex worker in post-9/11 New Jersey over the course of Valentine’s Day. Ponyboi (Gallo) works in a shabby laundromat called Fluff N’ Stuff, a front for a drug-dealing and commercial sex operation. Ponyboi’s androgynous appearance includes a flat chest, a lean build, shoulder-length curly hair and an affinity for glitter eyeliner, hoops and electric blue acrylic nails. His customers and pimp boss Vinny (Dylan O’Brien) are enthralled by his particular brand of beauty, clearly fetishizing this gender-expansive intersex person. This only contributes to the confusing and utterly detrimental push-and-pull attitude society has long shown Ponyboi. His Salvadoran Catholic father is a stereotypical macho cowboy, pushing him to be a “big strong man.” Others continuously pressure him to become a binary trans woman and take estrogen. But he fits in neither box, if any at all.
Born with an intersex variant called anorchia, Ponyboi’s grip on his identity and relationship with both the past and future are challenged throughout the film, and it’s certainly a pony worth riding. Showcasing honorable intersex representation, nostalgic grit and a dreamy feel that borders on surreal, Ponyboi shines bright. It’s as if Paul Verhoeven, Sean Baker and Paul Thomas Anderson collaborated to make a unique neo-noir that’s both timely and an homage to the past.
Jersey Girls, Bruce Springsteen and Vegas Dreams
With a baby on the way with Fluff N’ Stuff manager Angel (Victoria Pedretti, one of the film’s most captivating performances), wannabe gangster and gaslighter extraordinaire Vinny cooks up a cheaper “Tina” (a.k.a. crystal methamphetamine), which he calls “Proud Mary,” to maximize his profits. As it turns out, mobsters and crystal meth are a deadly cocktail, and Ponyboi once again gets the short end of the stick. In an attempt to escape his abusive father and complicit mother, Ponyboi ran away from his life in Point Pleasant years prior; now he must run away to escape the wrath of Vinny and the big mob boss. With a bag full of stolen cash and mystery cowboy drifter Bruce (Murray Bartlett) by his side, Ponyboi sets his sights on Las Vegas, desperate to stock up on his testosterone hormones before embarking on a new life.
While journeying across New Jersey for testosterone, it becomes clear to both the audience and Ponyboi himself that this frantic hunt is heavily influenced both by his father and the doctors who treated him during his youth. Hazy flashbacks involving cowboys, horses, Ponyboi’s father, knockoff My Little Pony figurines, a Ford pickup truck and scalpel-wielding surgeons paint a blurry picture of Ponyboi’s past. Forced masculinity and unnecessary medical intervention on a healthy child who was born a little different — an issue Gallo frequently speaks out against, sharing their personal experiences being operated on as a minor — haunt the protagonist. Meanwhile, his father’s love for Ponyboi is evident in stories about him gifting his son My Little Pony copycats to cheer him up, even though “he knew they were for girls.” His father is presented as a complicated man full of contradictions — perhaps understanding the contradictions of Ponyboi’s intersex biology and gender-bending identity was something he just couldn’t do.
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Surrealist qualities present themselves in scenes featuring the charming Bruce, whose existence is ambiguous. He’s a rugged cowboy with a gentle soul and an enigmatic backstory, and he shares a love of Bruce Springsteen with Ponyboi. (A scene featuring the duo singing Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” feels slightly cheesy and out of place, but that’s forgivable.) Only ever shown speaking with Ponyboi, Bruce listens to the protagonist’s life story and aspirations without judgment, like an idealized version of Ponyboi’s father.
The two take a trip to The Empress, a queer dive bar run by Ponyboi’s estranged friend Charlie (Indya Moore), in hopes of snagging a stash of T. Disco ball lighting, rainbow metallic streamers and glamorous cabaret performances give these scenes a Lynchian aesthetic — even Pose alumna Moore’s makeup is reminiscent of Isabella Rossellini’s in David Lynch’s surrealist gem Blue Velvet. And while Moore’s enchanting turn as transgender woman Charlie is brief, her character’s words are some of the film’s wisest:
“Hormones change the way we see ourselves, the way the world sees us, treats us. But even with all that, hormones didn’t tell me who I was. … What makes you Ponyboi isn’t the hormones, it’s actually who you decide to be.”
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Moving forward does not mean turning a blind eye to the painful realities of marginalized communities, and Ponyboi refuses to do that. The film centers low-income intersex and transgender sex workers, and offers poetic commentary on the nuances of outdated gender norms, trans fetishization and the pitfalls of transmedicalism without exploitation.
Overall, Ponyboi offers an entertaining and unabashedly authentic Americana tale of queer hope and resilience with stunning performances, particularly from Gallo, O’Brien and Pedretti. Notably, Pedretti’s aptly-named Angel — a hilarious mix of Juliette Lewis in Kalifornia and Mikey Madison in Anora — is a warm reminder that true allies exist, and sometimes a gal dripping in leopard print can help heal a queer heart.
From Fox Entertainment Studios and Gathr, Ponyboi hits select U.S. theaters on June 27, 2025.
