‘Ponyboi’ Review: Intersex Star River Gallo Can’t Be Fenced In, Even by Clichés of Their Own Making
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic Depending on how you look at it, “Ponyboi” is either a Trojan horse for exploring nonbinary gender identity or a hackneyed crime movie with a radically unorthodox queer protagonist.
Either way, it’s a sordid yet stylish showcase for intersex actor (and activist) River Gallo, who uses “they/them” pronouns and sees the project as an opportunity to educate audiences about the social and psychological aspects of exhibiting both male and female traits in a world that classifies people in one box or the other.
It’s ironic therefore that, apart from Gallo’s category-defying title character, the rest of the ensemble is populated by such familiar stereotypes.
Sparkling like a rhinestone in the rough, Ponyboi stands out amid a lineup of cartoon gangsters, tough-guy dealers and gum-smacking prostitutes — lowlifes recycled from a hundred late-night cable movies with superficially similar plots.
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