Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
The drama takes place over 24 or so hours in the life of 7 (or maybe 8) gay or bisexual men and youths. Different story lines are juggled and the various characters find their lives engaging with others - often by the most spurious and improbable of coincidences. I will try to sum up what I remember.
Will and Gavin are getting married after gay marriages became legal. Their waiter Alfie gets Will's attention and Will tries to get in his pants. Will resists but doesn't wrk. WIll gives him his number and his ring. That night Alfie goes to a bar. Terry hits on him but Alfie ignores him. Later that night Terry goes with a guy but ends up hitting and beating him bad. 14 year old Theo who is just discovering his sexuality is waiting for his parents to go to a party so that he can masturbate while watching his neighbor Tim whom he has occasionally seen in the library. Tim is rumored to be a pedophile. Robin, a screenwriter being rejected an offer of a gay film goes to a public bathroom where he s flashed and propositioned by another man but some other guys interrupt him. Robin later meets the man at a party where Theo's parents are also invited. The other guy actually finished his job in the bathroom with another man and he later saw some gay bashers running after Alfie. Alfie is killed. Robin asks the guy to come clean but he refuses fearing his social status. When Alfie was dying, Terry look the ring from him. During one of his encounters, he gets beaten up badly and lands up to a doctor who is Gavin. Gavin sees the ring and realizes that Will is not being honest. Theo finally meets Tim. They have a rough animal sex. Oh! meanwhile there is also clips of this lower class black boy learning violin but always living in fear that he will be bashed by other street smart ghettos and the film actually ends with pieces of the violin.
The story is confusing but it was interesting how small pieces were interconnected to each other. I found the whole thing very fascinating. The intimate scene between Theo and Tim is easily the best scene in the film. There is so much tension in the scene that you can actually feel it. The film was not perfect. There were lots of questions unanswered but I guess the whole point of the film was just to show that how still homophobia exists in the people's mind and how some people still lead double lives. I struggled a little bit with the thick british accent but it was ok.
Very much recommended for lovers of good cinema. (7/10)
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