At long last, the debut feature of a Bronx native returns to NYC for a theatrical run. After a buzzy Sundance 2025 world premiere and a successful festival run last year, Joel Alfsono Vargas‘ “Mad Bills To Pay (Or Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo)” returns to Vargas’ home borough next month, as well as Manhattan’s famed Film Forum.
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Vargas’ debut is a tender, charming look at youthful abandon, following a young Bronx man and his girlfriend as they navigate love, urban life, and an unexpected pregnancy.
Here’s an official synopsis for “Mad Bills To Pay,” courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories:
In a tight knit Dominican American community in The Bronx, Rico (Juan Collado) is hustling his way through the summer, selling nutties 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.
“Mad Bills To Bay” stars Juan Callado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, and Nathaly Navarro.
Vargas writes and directs “Mad Bills To Bay.” Paolo Maria Pedullà produces the film, and executive producers include Christine Vachon, Gabriel Mayers, Julie Waters, Evan Dyal, Robina Riccitelo, Josh Peters, Liam Francis Quigley.
After its world premiere at Sundance 2025, “Mad Bills To Pay” also had festival screenings at Berlinale 2025, Valladolid International, Rome, BFI London, Manchester, and Fargo Film Festivals. Vargas’ film also had its NYC premiere on April 4 last year at Film At Lincoln Center and screened the following day at MoMA as part of the “New Directors/New Films” Festival.
“Mad Bills To Pay” hits Film Forum and Regal Concourse in the Bronx on April 17. Watch a trailer for the film below.
