It proved very popular with the film critics and the public,[citation needed] and was released on DVD on January 9, 2007.

On the Downlow is a love story set in Little Village, Chicago, between Angel (Michael Cortez) and Isaac (Tony Sancho), two warm, supportive and sensitive young men.

Their affection to each other is shown through a long kiss in a dark alley in Chicago and, later on, in a musical sequence in the film.

Angel, in order to be with his secret lover Isaac, gives up his allegiance to his former Latin Kings gang and pledges to Isaac's Southside Chicago's Two Six gang led by Reaper (Donato Cruz) after a cruel initiation beating.

When Reaper is later informed that Angel is an ex-gang member of the rival Latin Kings gang, he decides that Isaac should kill him.