GFF 2025: Kill the Jockey

The jockey is a potent symbol. These athletes must fit restrictive physical parameters to be as light as possible on a horse’s back while still able to control a half-ton beast going 40 miles per hour. Their bodies are on the line whether it's a training session or the Grand National, yet they and the other stable workers see very little of the riches that their million-dollar mounts win. And to the owners, who take all the spoils and none of the falls, their precarious existence is expendable. 

Kill the Jockey follows Remo (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) and Abril (Úrsula Corberó), two jockeys racing for fame and fortune under a crime boss (Daniel Gliménez Cacho) and simultaneously facing crises of identity – and in their sensual, doomed romance. Abril is certain she wants to race and worries that motherhood would destroy her chances; Remo, described as “lost in time and space”, faces challenges less immediately identifiable.

When Remo’s fortunes finally seem poised to turn around, a terrible tragedy forces them to the margins of society and onto a dream-like journey of survival and self-discovery. While the film does not elaborate on their identity through this process, the overtly queer overtones lead to joyous explorations of a world free from hegemonic, capitalist exploitation. This is a violent, unjust world, but its logic can be circumvented in quiet, tiny workings of authenticity and rebellion.  

A surreal, sexy, beautifully shot and acted film, Kill the Jockey is an exquisite, aching tale of bodily autonomy, longing, and transformation.