The intersex actor and the ‘Maze Runner’ star play a sex worker and a goofy gangster, respectively, in a crime drama directed by Esteban Arango.

It’s Valentine’s Day in the early aughts. Rudy Giuliani plays a hand in New York politics, and residents are still recovering from the events of September 11. There are talks of a memorial, among other commemorations. Across the river, bus drivers are on strike and a young, self-proclaimed “Jersey girl” rides a trucker in the parking lot of the New Jersey Turnpike gas station. As Ponyboi (played by newcomer River Gallo) amps his client up with theatrical ad libs, the stout john offers a note: Could Ponyboi turn it down a notch and consider speaking less? 

Ponyboi chronicles the wild and sticky 24-hour adventure of its protagonist Ponyboi, an intersex worker on the run from his pimp (a transformed Dylan O’Brien) and his past. Along the way, he tries to shape a self-image aligned with who he wants to be versus who everyone thinks he is. Arango’s film is a New Jersey fever dream, the kind of kaleidoscopic vision that leaves sheets damp and hands clammy. 

With the job complete and the money collected,  Ponyboi heads to his second gig at a roadside laundromat. There, he runs into his best friend Angel (Victoria Pedretti), the girlfriend of Ponyboi’s boss Vinny (O’Brien). The two share a heartfelt moment: Angel, who is four months away from giving birth to Vinny’s baby and plans to spend Valentine’s Day with the goofy gangster, buys matching friendship bracelets for Ponyboi. She assures him that although he is spending the commercial holiday alone, he will eventually find a man. 

Unbeknownst to Angel, Ponyboi is having sex with Vinny. The relationship is more arrangement than romance, but there’s an understated sweetness to the pair’s interactions. When Vinny barges into the laundromat, all performance and awkward swag, Ponyboi’s eyes track him. When the two have sex in the cavernous backroom later, their post-coital moment is filled with a surprising grade-school gentleness and intimate ease. Ponyboi yearns for romance and Vinny, however imperfect, offers a version of that. 

Ponyboi kicks into gear when a client (Stephen Moscatello) dies after smoking a new strain of meth created by Vinny. Ponyboi panics after coming down from his own high and noticing Lucky isn’t breathing. At first, the alarmed sex worker tries to call the police, then Vinny, and then finally, inspired by an earlier interaction with a charming cowboy (Murray Bartlett) heading to Vegas, decides to seize the moment. Ponyboi respectfully throws a white sheet over Lucky’s rigid body, steals the cash, grabs a gun and hits the road. 

Still, Gallo is strong as the film’s lead, proving adept in a role that requires moving between fatal thrill and light comedy. The actor, whom viewers might know from the intersex documentary Every Body, teases out their character’s inner tension, bringing a heartbreaking texture to scenes like the one in which Ponyboi tries to get more testosterone at a pharmacy before hitting the road. Arango’s sleek direction and the film’s psychedelic palette make for a visually pleasing viewing experience. Tommy Love’s production design and Lucy Hawkins’ costuming bring the gritty underworld of New Jersey to life, and add to the film’s sense of neo-noir dread. Despite the hiccups, Ponyboi’s assurance in its vision and faith in its radical narrative makes it a ride worth getting on.