Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)

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1:53

Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)

1h 41m

Drama

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85%

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13 Reviews

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In a tight-knit Dominican American community in The Bronx, Rico (Juan Collado) is hustling his way through the summer, selling bootleg "nutcracker" cocktails out of a beach cooler and chasing girls without a care in the world. But when his teenage girlfriend, Destiny (Destiny Checo), begins crashing at his place with his family, turning their small apartment into a stage for their messy, complicated young love, it's only a matter of time before they’re hit with the sobering reality of growing up too fast in a city that waits for no one. Writer-director Joel Alfonso Vargas turns his hometown into the heartbeat of his debut feature, teaming up with discovery talent Collado and Checo, to deliver a raw and deeply authentic look at life in The Bronx. With humor and grit, Vargas paints a tender portrait of the chaos and charm of urban life, and the ups and downs of youthful abandon when things take an unexpected turn.

Joel Alfonso Vargas

Director

Juan Collado

Rico

Destiny Checo

Destiny

Yohanna Florentino

Mami

Nathaly Navarro

Sally

Gregory Requena

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Christian Zilko

IndieWire

02/03/2025

A-

Mad Bills to Pay rests on the performances of Collado and Checo, both first-time actors who carry the understated film on their shoulders. Rico is charismatic to the point where watching him do just about anything would be entertaining.

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Jordan Mintzer

The Hollywood Reporter

01/31/2025

The result can be both compelling and a bit amateur at times, though never less than genuine.

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Robert Daniels

RogerEbert.com

01/30/2025

From the first minute until its sobering end, writer/director Joel Alfonso Vargas knows exactly what his debut film should be.

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Elissa Suh

Moviepudding (Substack)

Jan 2

A gentle, unsparing, and through-and-through New York movie.

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Alireza Hatamvand

FILMINK (Australia)

Nov 6

15/20

... while Mad Bills to Pay isn’t flawless, it stands as a confident and quietly powerful debut for Joel Alfonso Vargas.

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Alfred Castaneda

Shade Studios

Jul 30

There is immense talent here, and an immediacy that is rarely captured in films of a similar mind.

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Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo): Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In a tight-knit Dominican American community in The Bronx, Rico (Juan Collado) is hustling his way through the summer, selling bootleg "nutcracker" cocktails out of a beach cooler and chasing girls without a care in the world. But when his teenage girlfriend, Destiny (Destiny Checo), begins crashing at his place with his family, turning their small apartment into a stage for their messy, complicated young love, it's only a matter of time before they’re hit with the sobering reality of growing up too fast in a city that waits for no one. Writer-director Joel Alfonso Vargas turns his hometown into the heartbeat of his debut feature, teaming up with discovery talent Collado and Checo, to deliver a raw and deeply authentic look at life in The Bronx. With humor and grit, Vargas paints a tender portrait of the chaos and charm of urban life, and the ups and downs of youthful abandon when things take an unexpected turn.

Director: Joel Alfonso Vargas
Producer: Paolo Maria Pedullà
Screenwriter: Joel Alfonso Vargas
Distributor: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Production Co: Perpetuum Films, Killer Films, Watermark Media, Spark Features
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 17, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 41m