Movies: Kill The Jockey (2024) by Luis Ortega: Riding, Ruin & Reinvention in Buenos Aires
- dailyentertainment95
- Sep 13
- 5 min read
Glory, Collapse, and Becoming Someone Else
El Jockey (also known as Kill the Jockey) is a genre-blending film co-written and directed by Luis Ortega, with screenplay by Ortega, Rodolfo Palacios, and Fabián Casas. It follows Remo Manfredi, a once-celebrated jockey whose life spirals into self-destruction through drug abuse, alcoholism, and a demanding but exploitative patron, Sirena. The film’s turning point occurs when Remo is involved in a terrible accident during a high-stakes race that kills a prized horse. After falling into a coma, Remo escapes hospital and wanders the streets of Buenos Aires, gradually shedding his old identity, adopting the name Dolores, putting on a fur coat, and exploring fluidity of self. Abril, his partner, pregnant and successful as a jockey herself, becomes deeply involved in trying to find him while Remo’s transformation challenges norms of masculinity, identity, and loyalty.
Why to Recommend Movie: A Dark, Stylish Rebirth Story
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart’s powerhouse performance — He embodies Remo with weariness and bravado, showing someone both broken and magnetic. His transformation into Dolores is portrayed with care, giving weight to both identity and personal pain. Audiences are drawn in by his fragility and unpredictability.
Genre-bending style — The film moves fluidly between sports drama, crime thriller, psychological odyssey, and surreal absurdity. What starts as a story about a jockey trying to race again becomes something more uncanny, where reality shifts around Remo.
Visual richness & atmosphere — Cinematography by Timo Salminen gives Buenos Aires a neon, dream-like sheen. Scenes of the racetrack, hospital escape, nighttime city wandering, and dance sequences build texture. The style underlines Remo’s disorientation and inner conflict.
Exploration of identity & gender — Remo’s journey into adopting Dolores explores gender, performance, and the constraints of expectation. The film doesn’t shy away from challenging viewers with what identity means when shaped by trauma and desire.
Cultural and festival impact — Screened in competition at Venice 2024 and nominated for the Golden Lion and Queer Lion; selected as Argentine entry for the Best International Feature Film for the Oscars. These honors reflect that the film is seen as artistically bold and culturally relevant.
Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/el-jockey (US), https://picl.nl/films/el-jockey (Netherlands)
Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28231777/
About movie: https://reipictures.com/projects/kill-the-jockey/
What is the Trend Followed: Surreal Identity Drama in Sports Settings
El Jockey follows a rising cinematic trend where sports serve not as a triumphant arena but as a crucible for psychological collapse and reinvention.
Modern sports dramas increasingly explore what happens after the fall—when fame turns to ruin and athletes must confront who they are without competition.
It blends neo-noir aesthetics and surreal imagery, aligning with global cinema’s embrace of mood-driven narratives over strictly linear plots.
The film also rides the wave of queer and gender-fluid storytelling, bringing identity exploration into spaces traditionally associated with hyper-masculinity.
Director’sVision.dd Luis Ortega’s Hallucinatory Lens
Ortega uses Remo’s collapse not just as a plot but as a state of mind, framing scenes with dreamlike pacing, offbeat humor, and moments of quiet terror. His Buenos Aires is both beautiful and suffocating, reflecting Remo’s disorientation.
He allows the narrative to break rules: the story wanders, just as Remo does, into unexpected spaces—dance clubs, abandoned streets, intimate apartments—so that the audience experiences the same instability as the protagonist.
Ortega doesn’t resolve all conflicts neatly, preferring open endings and ambiguity that force viewers to confront their own ideas of redemption and identity.
Themes: Glory, Ruin & Rebirth
The fall from fame — The film explores the fragility of identity when it is tied to performance and public approval, showing how quickly heroism can turn to disgrace.
Identity as transformation — By becoming Dolores, Remo sheds more than a name; he sheds societal expectations and steps into a new, dangerous kind of freedom.
Addiction and chaos — Drugs and alcohol are shown not only as vices but as coping mechanisms, highlighting the destructive cycle of pleasure, pain, and loss.
Love and loyalty under strain — Abril’s arc mirrors Remo’s: she remains tethered to him, even as he seems to disappear into someone new. Their relationship becomes a study of devotion, betrayal, and acceptance.
Key success factors.dd Why the Film Stays With You
Magnetic lead performance — Biscayart’s portrayal is one of the year’s most daring and emotionally layered performances, carrying the entire film’s tonal shifts.
Visual and sonic boldness — Salminen’s cinematography and the pulsating, moody soundtrack turn the film into an almost tactile experience, enveloping viewers in Remo’s fractured perspective.
Fearless narrative choices — Ortega refuses to spoon-feed or sanitize; he leans into discomfort, surrealism, and identity exploration, making the film linger in memory.
Universal themes with local flavor — By grounding the story in Buenos Aires’ racetrack subculture while exploring universal questions of identity, the film appeals both globally and locally.
Awards & Nominations.dd From Venice to the Oscars
The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Lion and was nominated for the Queer Lion. Its bold exploration of gender identity and reinvention earned critical recognition, and it was later selected as Argentina’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, cementing its status as one of the most important Argentine films of 2024.
CriticsReception: Stylish, Haunting, and Willfully Unruly
Cineuropa praised its daring narrative and Biscayart’s transformative performance, noting that the first act builds tension brilliantly but the second half becomes looser and more surreal, which may challenge some viewers.
The Guardian called it “a mercurial, skittish drama whose hero is a drug-fuelled rogue,” applauding its originality and atmospheric power, even as it sometimes drifts narratively.
Slant Magazine admired Ortega’s genre-blending ambition and visual bravado but felt the film occasionally sacrificed emotional intimacy for symbolism.
Overall summary: Critics agree that El Jockey is a bold, visually arresting work with an unforgettable lead performance, even if its narrative risks alienating viewers looking for a more straightforward drama.
Reviews.add A Fever Dream on Horseback
Strengths: Strongest where it is most daring—Biscayart’s performance, the visual language, the exploration of identity and freedom. These elevate it beyond a sports drama into a psychological and philosophical odyssey.
Weaknesses: The story becomes intentionally fragmented, which may frustrate viewers wanting a more traditional resolution. Some secondary characters, like Sirena, could have been further explored to deepen conflict.
Overall: El Jockey is a heady, hallucinatory trip worth taking. It’s a cinematic gamble that pays off for those willing to follow Remo/Dolores down the rabbit hole.
Movie Trend: Identity and Transformation Cinema
The film is part of the global cinematic movement exploring identity as performance—characters shedding old skins to find new selves. Like Titane and Holy Motors, El Jockey embraces metamorphosis, making its sports setting a metaphorical race toward rebirth rather than victory.
Social Trend: Gender Fluidity and Post-Masculinity in Latin American Cinema
This work participates in the ongoing cultural conversation in Latin America about masculinity, gender identity, and the freedom to self-define. By letting Remo become Dolores, Ortega challenges the archetype of the macho sports hero and instead creates a narrative of vulnerability and transformation.
Final Verdict: A Hypnotic, Risk-Taking Triumph
El Jockey is a visually intoxicating and emotionally bold film that refuses to conform. With a stunning lead performance and fearless direction, it is one of the most provocative Argentine films in years. For those willing to embrace its surreal, chaotic energy, it offers a cinematic experience that is both harrowing and liberating.
Comments