ON THE ROAD (EN EL CAMINO)
DAVID PABLOS | MEXICO | 2025 | 94 MIN | SPANISH EST
DAVID PABLOS | MEXICO | 2025 | 94 MIN | SPANISH EST
Subtitles: English
Synopsis
With smoldering toughness, Veneno navigates sexual exchanges and drug deals in the harsh desert truck stops of Northern Mexico. He melts only for the enigmatic Muñeco, who alternates between fatherly and flirty, and promises protection for Veneno’s drug-running—for a price. Though neither are prepared for the coming menace. An exchange gone awry brings Veneno (Victor Prieto Simental) under the wing of the adamantly straight Eduardo (Osvaldo Sanchez), a truck driver nicknamed Muñeco. This term of endearment also implies ‘pawn’ or ‘puppet,’ which is a fitting resonance when it is clear both men are in over their heads. Flashes of Veneno doused in gasoline and an ominous, smoky shadow underscore how they are at the whims of an insidious power. Like the Kerouac novel whose title it borrows, and which culminates in Mexico, writer-director David Pablos’ dusty, dangerous road movie chronicles an episodic cross-country journey, centering a nomadic lifestyle punctuated by drugs and self-discovery—the battered sedan switched for a tractor-trailer and Kerouac’s oblique references to gay sex traded for Pablos’ lingering, no-holds-barred sequences. Visually dazzling, this heated thriller (Mexico’s official Oscars selection) offers tendernesses and twists you will never see coming.
Trailer
Filmmaker Bio
David Pablos is a Mexican writer and director whose films have received 26 Ariel Award nominations. His work includes Dance of the 41 (2021), The Chosen Ones (2015), and the Amazon series The Head of Joaquín Murrieta (2023). The Chosen Ones screened at Cannes, San Sebastián, Zurich and Stockholm, received a Goya nomination, and won five Ariel Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. His debut feature, The Life After, premiered at the Venice Biennale. Pablos holds an MFA from Columbia University and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Director's Statement
On the Road portrays a romantic relationship between two men in a hostile and dangerous setting — that of truckers and highways — governed by heteronormative and hyper-masculine norms. […] I was drawn to the idea of telling a story infused with homoeroticism within the world of truckers, where its brutality is shown, but also the warmth found in the brotherhood that emerges among men on the road. […] I believe it's essential to keep making LGBTQ+ films in today's context, where there are still so few representations in Mexican cinema.
Producer
Diego Luna, Enrique Nava, Inna Payán, Luis Salinas
Writer
David Pablos
Cast
- Victor Prieto
- Osvaldo Sanchez
