Welcome back Outfest! Now rebranded as OutfestNext, this legendary queer film festival went through some down time in recent years, but has returned with an incredible slate of films. I’ll post several reviews starting with En El Camino (On The Road), from writer-director David Pablos (Dance Of The 41, The Chosen Ones). Blending neorealism with surrealism, Pablos has given us a deliberately paced yet powerful look at a little seen aspect of queer life.
Set in the world of truckers who traverse Northern Mexico through cartel territory, the story opens with Veneno (Victor Prieto Simental), a sex worker who provides his services along with drugs to the male drivers. He hitches a ride from Muñeco (Osvaldo Sanchez), who enjoys Veneno’s party favors. Instantly clocking Veneno as gay, Muñeco identifies as straight and married with children. He takes a liking to the young man, and would enjoy the company as long as Veneno doesn’t make his drug dealing obvious to the cartels. If you’ve ever seen a movie before, you just know this won’t go well.
Still, their relationship slowly progresses from transactional to physical to something unexpectedly emotional. Pablos takes his time telling his story so that every beat seems earned. It helps that both leads find confidence, humor, and vulnerability despite the outward stoicism in their performances. Simental has an unapologetic stare and refuses to recoil in the face of danger. Conversely, Sanchez seems to wither before our eyes from constant drug use and suppressed longing for men. The dangerous setting of the highway, especially at night, brings us closer to these men, who we root for despite their sometimes awful behavior.
With plenty of nudity and graphic sexual depictions, the film achieves an honesty it may not have had otherwise. You truly ache for these poor souls as the world around them grows increasingly more violent and difficult to navigate. While much of the film has a cluttered and natural look, Cinematographer Ximenna Amann achieves a Tarantino level of grandeur during many of the film’s beautifully realized flights of fancy. She has announced herself here as a talent to watch.
The film explores several interesting themes such as how humans can connect even while scrounging to survive, even while viewing someone as a commodity or as a hindrance. The film builds to an astoundingly tender moment when the two men slow-dance to a ballad in a dingy warehouse. En El Camino may seem too graphic for some with its depictions of violence, but I walked away caring deeply for its two main characters. Both Simental and Sanchez shared the Best Actor prize at the Morelia International Film Festival and the film won both the Queer Lion Award and Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. It’s easy to see why in this harrowing movie which takes you to hell and…well not exactly back…but to a place of real feeling.
By Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic
En El Camino (On The Road) screened at OutfestNext Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival on Friday, July 24th, 2026. For more on the film and updates on future screenings go to Strand Releasing
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