'Barrio Boy' Is A Steamy Movie About Self-Discovery & Latine Identity
Latine representation in queer indie cinema – we love to see it!
Writer and director Dennis Shinners has now turned his 2014 short film Barrio Boy into a full feature film with the same title. Set in a rapidly-changing Brooklyn, the movie follows Quique (played by Dennis Garcia) as a New York-based Puerto Rican – Nuyorican – barber finding himself on a journey of self-discovery.
During the film, Quique has a chance encounter with an attractive Irish man, Kevin (played by James Physick), and it doesn’t take long for them to get emotionally and sexually involved with each other. As that relationship develops, characters like Cuz (played by Keet Davis) and Jorge (Manny Ureña) start speculating about Quique’s sexuality… bringing him a new set of obstacles.
Watch the trailer for Barrio Boy below.
"Barrio Boy" - Dennis Shinners TRAILER
Garcia is best known for playing Jose Torres on Chicago P.D. and appearing on other in-universe shows like Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. He also played Quique in the original Barrio Boy short film. In turn, Physick has starred in projects such as Language Is Dead, Off the Rails, Masque, and The Hunt With John Walsh.
The cast of Barrio Boy also features Pierre Jean Gonzalez as Rafa, Michael Borrelli as Seth, Caitlin Mehner as Shelly, Teresa Yenque as Abuela Rosa, and Andrea Morales as Nieves, to name a few.
Even in 2023, it’s still quite rare for queer Latine representation to be featured in mainstream projects. Indie films like Barrio Boy are thankfully pushing those boundaries and encouraging studios to take chances on compelling projects like these.
Barrio Boy is scheduled for a September 23 screening at the New York Latino Film Festival in New York City, as well as a September 30 screening at the Out On Film festival in Atlanta.
