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...
Cops get a lead that drain pipe of one of. the flats in blocked by what seems like human remains. Nilsen is then arrested, who admits of having remains of human body in his current apartment and also his previous apartment. We are told that Nilsen, Des, himself had called in the complaint. DCI Jay is in charge of the investigation. Des is more than co-operative and it turns out that he may have killed 12-15 boys, all homeless, looking for food and love, may or may not necessarily be gay. Enter a famous writer Brian, an older yet successful gay man himself, who is hired by Des, to write his biography providing an additional point of view beyond that of Nilsen and the police. The rest of the investigation tries to find out who the murdered victims were. Cops are able to identify only 6-7 names including a very high profile case from three years ago. When the case finally goes to the court, everyone is shocked when Des pleads "not guilty". His logic is he admits to murder but maybe he was not in the right frame of mind. Eventually the jury finds him guilty and he is sent to life imprisonment. No one will ever know what his real motives were for the murders.
I didn't know this but apparently there was homelessness crisis during the 80s, which is what Nilsen takes complete advantage of when he meets vulnerable young boys and take them home, offer them drinks and eventually strangle them to death. Its a true story, so not much to review here but whats pretty obvious is the brilliant acting here. David Tennant has proved himself a versatile actor many times and he is no less brilliant as the calculating yet intelligent murderer. With no "who", the question hanging over Des is why. What made this unassuming man do these terrible things? He is not likeable but seems very reasonable. He also emerges as a vain, arrogant psychopath, haunted by his own sexuality and all too aware of his value as a story. And hence he hires Brian, a gay biographer. Joe, Brian and others also do a very good job. It's strictly not a queer themed series tbh. I mean, yes the killer is gay and his victims are all young men whom he brought home for sex but sadly we will never know the motives for his actions.
A must see for thriller genre lovers. (6.5/10)
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