The debut feature of Bronx filmmaker Joel Alfonso Vargas, “Mad Bills to Pay” (Destino, dile que no soy malo), opens in the borough next week after already receiving widespread critical acclaim — including an award at Sundance.
The film will have its Bronx premiere on April 16 at the Regal Concourse on East 161st St.
It has opened to strong praise, including from Manohla Dargis with the New York Times, who called it “fast-paced and crackling with energy” and advised audiences to “remember this New York kid’s name.”
The story follows Rico, a 19-year-old Bronx Dominican, who finds out his 16-year-old girlfriend, Destiny, is pregnant. Much to the horror of both families, Rico is thrilled about their future as a family of three — while showing no signs of being ready for it.
He spends his days selling nutcrackers on Orchard Beach while flirting and chatting, and he can’t seem to keep a foothold in the responsible adult world. As Destiny and the families become increasingly anxious about how they’ll make things work, Rico tries to prove that he’s up to the challenge.
From the film’s opening shot, Bronx audiences will instantly recognize their home borough — and Vargas said they’ll also recognize the lovable, complex characters, who were inspired by his and his older brother’s circle of friends from their Bronx upbringing.
In particular, Rico was a sort of composite of guys Vargas called “walking tornado figures” — often the children of single teen parents, as Vargas was, guys who were charming, cool and maybe a little chaotic, who became “archetypes” of masculinity in his creative imagination.
Vargas, 34, grew up in Marble Hill Houses and first found his filmmaking niche while attending an alternative high school in Manhattan. He went on to Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, intending to study engineering, but was quickly pulled back into the film world.
While his family still lives in the Bronx, Vargas has moved around for film school and related opportunities and is currently living in the UK, where he attended the University of the Arts London as a Fulbright Scholar.
Vargas said it won’t be long before he comes back to the Bronx.
“Working in this field, it’s never a straight road,” he said. “All in pursuit of trying to make this career work.”
He shot “Mad Bills to Pay” in New York City in 16 days. Vargas said he originally planned on only 14, but work was delayed for quite possibly the most New York City reason: a roach infestation at one of the shooting locations.
As luck would have it, the exterminator dealing with the roaches offered up his own apartment just a few blocks away — which Vargas said was more spacious and was visually perfect for the scenes.
Vargas said he tried to keep that spontaneity in every aspect of shooting, encouraging the team to remain open to “New York’s magic.”
“That was the spirit of the whole thing,” he said. “You can have a plan … but New York will always slap you in the face.”
‘A beautiful place’
Vargas said that “Mad Bills to Pay” began taking shape during the pandemic, when he spent a lot of time reflecting on his Bronx upbringing and the colorful characters he’d grown up with and, in many cases, lost touch with.
He began planning a film rooted in his own experience that would “monumentalize” the Bronx and its people.
When Vargas moved to London in 2022, he met some of the crew who would later work with him on “Mad Bills to Pay.” Before shooting, Vargas said he asked those crew members not to study the Bronx or watch Bronx films but to approach with fresh eyes.
This decision was made “with the intention that I want you to see the Bronx’s beauty. It’s a beautiful place,” he said.
The crew also included local connections. Vargas said the South Bronx’s Ghetto Film School connected him with two Bronxites who served as assistant director and line producer — and it all clicked.
The film’s debut has been stunning, earning the Sundance Film Festival NEXT Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast and showing at the Berlinale and more than 100 other top-tier festivals. These days, Vargas is doing nonstop interviews and said the attention has been “surreal, honestly.”
He and his team have been busy promoting the film to get Bronxites to come out. “The film was made with one audience in mind, truly.”
The April 16 showing at the Regal Concourse will include a Q&A with the director, and several more showtimes will begin that weekend.
For those unsure of what to expect from new film by a new director, “You’re in for a ride,” Vargas said.
He said audiences should expect great performances, funny but also “emotionally impactful” moments and “a complicated story with a complicated ending.”
If nothing else, Vargas said the summer beach party soundtrack alone will grab viewers’ attention.
“We mixed the film at, like, booty-shaking levels,” he said. “There’s a lot of booty-shaking music in it. So if anything, just come out for that.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
