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...
Eduard, possibly gay, leaves his good life in Berlin to move to Brussels to take up a big bureaucratic position in EU parliament. His sister and his friends can’t fathom why. Around same time, Edurne, leaves her over protective mother’s home in Sitges and takes up an intern job in the same building. They have a chance meeting and they start hanging out and pretty quick Eduard asks Edurne to move in. They have a strange connection, while Eduard is still struggling with his sexuality. We see he hooks up with a guy when she is not around. Edurne enjoys his company, for whatever reason and literally demands that he should never leave her. Enter Richard, a handsome young man, whom they met on a couple of occasions. He is a moving man in the same building. Both Eduard and Edurne are attracted to him and they ask him to move in also. They have a weird sexual tension between them and things are ok, till one night Edurne and Richard have sex. This breaks Eduard’s heart but he does nothing. Richard leaves home and despite their attempts, he doesn’t come back. And then Edurne also leaves and thats it.
See, the story had potential. There could have been fantastic character development on trying to explain why the characters were behaving the way they were. There is absolutely no explanation on why Eduard leaves such a happy life in Berlin and then fall immediately in love with a woman even though he is gay. I mean, he is a handsome man, unless he has been in closet all his life. We just don’t know. I dont think he is in closet , because his sister acts surprised when she hears a girl’s voice. Edurne is another weird character. She comes out as clingy and so demanding asking Eduard to never leave her. Meanwhile there is no indication that they are sexually attracted to each other. As someone said, she just comes across as a demanding lunatic. Only good thing is Richard and the sexiness he brings and even his character is full of ups and downs. Initial scenes show him sexually aggressive towards Eduard and then he ends up having sex with Edurne. What was it that he really wanted. No reason on why he moved in, why he left and why is the couple so desperate to have it. The relationship between all characters end as abruptly as it starts. There is this scene when the couple is in bathtub and they cry and laugh at the same time. It was so amateurish that I felt embarrassed for the director. The only positive thing was Edurne’s mother. Her presence in a couple of short scenes would light up the screen.
The film had potential High production values and good looking cast. Sadly it fails in acting and screenplay and direction. Don’t waste your time. Oh! and btw, its not really a gay film besides Eduard being gay man. Such a disappointment after such high expectations. (2.5/10)
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