Sundance standout ‘Ponyboi’ has cowboy Murray Bartlett, sleazy Dylan O’Brien & a star-making River Gallo
Ponyboi has been on our radar since we first caught a glimpse of co-star Dylan O’Brien sporting a buzzcut and bulging biceps on the set of the film way back in late 2022.So, when it was announced as part of the 2024 Sundance lineup—the legendary film festival’s landmark 40th edition—it immediately shot to the top of our most-anticipated list and became a priority to check out during our week in Park City, Utah for the fest.Whatever movie convinced O’Brien to have the good sense to look like this, we knew we had to see it.Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.A post shared by Dylan O'brien (@dylanobrienis)And now that the film has premiered this past Saturday, we’re thrilled to share that Ponyboi does not disappoint, and not just because O’Brien looks great in it (which, he definitely does—but he’s pretty terrifying, too!)Adapted from the 2019 short film of the same name, Ponyboi is written by and stars River Gallo (who was previously seen in the fantastic documentary Every Body), making history as the first out intersex person to play an intersex character in a starring feature film role.This year’s eclectic, super-queer Sundance lineup features LGBTQ+ talent like Justice Smith, Kristen Stewart, River Gallo, and John Early.Set over the course of one eventful Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, the Esteban Arango-directed film introduces us to Ponyboi (Gallo), an intersex runaway who works at a laundromat with their pregnant best friend Angel (The Haunting Of Hill House‘s Victoria Pedretti) and hustles on the side under the control of Angel’s baby daddy Vinny (O’Brien).Angel seems to be aware that Vinny is an amateur drug kingpin, but what she doesn’t know is that he and Ponyboi have been sleeping together on the regular.
And when one of Ponyboi’s clients suddenly dies from Vinny’s shoddy product, the three of them get caught up in a dangerous cat-and-mouse.
