A solitary truck driver meets a young man running from his past. As they travel through northern Mexico, an unexpected intimacy develops inside a world where violence and macho expectations leave little room for tenderness.
That is the story at the heart of En el camino, the David Pablos film that won Best Picture at Mexico’s Ariel Awards on October 3.
The film collected six awards, according to the official winners list published by IMCINE. Osvaldo Sánchez won Best Actor, Mariano López Sosa won Supporting Actor, Víctor Prieto won Breakthrough Performance and Ximena Amann won Cinematography. Pablos shared the directing award with Pablo Pérez Lombardini for La reserva.
Sánchez plays Muñeco, a guarded truck driver. Prieto plays Veneno, a young drifter whose need for a ride brings the men together. Their connection grows as dangers from Veneno’s past threaten them both.
The film had already won the Orizzonti Best Film prize and the Queer Lion at the 2025 Venice Film Festival. It has also been selected as Mexico’s submission for the international-film Oscar. That selection is a step toward consideration, not an Oscar nomination.
Behind those achievements is a particularly warm story about Prieto and his husband.
In an interview with Paloma & Nacho, Prieto explained that he was working as an engineer and had not intended to become an actor. The audition opportunity reached him while he was at a gay bar with his husband.
He initially thought his husband, who had more interest in entertainment, might be better suited to trying out. They both auditioned, and Prieto ultimately landed Veneno—his professional acting debut.
His husband supported him through that new experience. At the Ariel ceremony, Prieto acknowledged him while accepting the breakthrough-performance award.
It is a lovely offscreen connection to a film about finding affection where others might not expect it. On the road, two fictional men discover intimacy. Behind the performance, an actor has a husband who helped him take an unexpected first step.
Now that performance, and the love story it helps tell, have received some of Mexican cinema’s highest honors.
📷 Cinépolis Distribución / Animal de Luz Films, for film stills.
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