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...
Alex is a struggling artist. One day his boyfriend introduces him to his cousin Sebastian, a medical student from Argentina spending a year in Canada and now visiting their city. The way the two look at each other, you know exactly where it is headed, you just wanna wait to see how. Thier chance meeting again the next day and a crazy sexual tension between them leads them to bed and sex , despite Sebastian constantly reminding himself and Alex that Latino men don't steal boyfriends of their family members. Sebastian in interested in Alex but Alex has baggage and commitment issues. A story from his past has been haunting him, which surprisingly he manages to confide in Sebastian. Of course when Nelson finds out, he is furious and he leaves and so does Sebastian since he is family traitor. Alex is then introduced to an art gallery owner by his closet friend who recommends him to turn his life pain into artistry. A show happens magically 2 days later, Sebastian is back but also ready to leave for Argentina the next day. In a full filmy finale Alex realizes and accepts his true feelings for Sebastian.
The film is a regular feel good romantic gay film. Do not expect to find anything novel here, besides the treatment of forbidden love, which in this case is “Is it ok to sleep with your cousin’s boyfriend?”. But the two leads are attractive hunky and the sex scenes are executed tastefully with no nastiness, making the audiences not feel too bad about what's happening. Once we understand where Alex is coming from, we empathize with him slightly but still that doesn't give him any right to treat his boyfriend Nelson they way he does. Also, what's missing here is the relationship between him and Nelson. If Alex is clearly not into him, there is no way Nelson would won't have seen signs. Backgrounds for Alex's and Sebastian is rightly setup with family history, leading each of them to get into a vulnerable space that they are both scared of. But problem for me is that it all started with just purely physical attraction for one another and everything else just followed. Some supporting characters are also string, like Sebastian's aunt and her support for him plus Alex's friend the drag performer, who is the only one, Alex remotely is closest to. Their week-long affair has them caught up in a swirl of different conflicting emotions, and by the film’s end, they have to reckon with these feelings. Thankfully there are no over dramatic moments and every time things are handled through conversations.
Its a filmy concept and you know where the film is headed, but part of me still enjoyed the film despite its flaws and my reservations with many situations. The lead actors and their chemistry made it good. The sis one of he cases, where I didn't want to put too much logic into what's happening but just enjoy the simple gay romance unfolding in front of me. (6/10)
Comments
The aunt was amazing, absolutely. And of course XENIA - lovely personality and captivating looks, a pleasure to both watch and listen, since her lines were so pointy and catchy. I have used the "you just flooded my basement" quite a few times :D
The only thing that bothered me was the very ending at the airport. A few more seconds, let them see each other, and then let the end titles fly :D That would have created much more rewatchability, at least for me (depending on my mood when I start to watch a film, an open ending could turn into anything in my head).
P.S! Please tell me you're watching "Heartstopper" right now!
Agreed with you on everything about this film. I know I haven't written much about Xenia, but I agree that she was quite instrumental
While I"m here--memory check. Did you ever see a short film about a guy at a hotel, he has trouble getting into his room and some odd old hotel resident gives him a tip. His homophobic father comes to visit him because his mom told him he'd had another fight with his partner. His father gives him some advice and reassurance, and has actually brought his partner with him to see if they want to talk it out. Been searching for it for a couple of weeks and sometimes I think I can almost remember the title. No, I'm not ambitious enough to blog like you! lol
Regarding the short film, arghh! its so hard to think of a name like that. And I can totally relate to the frustration. There are so many times when I wanna think of a name and stories and characters keep flashing in front of me, but the name keeps evading me. Sorry, I can't think of the name.
Do keep visiting the blog and posting your thoughts.
Sometimes, I wonder why do I torture myself watching these and then blogging about it, but I guess this is one of those small things that give me a little pleasure and a change from my monotonous life.
Please do keep visiting the site and sharing your thoughts and views.
I love the idea of yours that this film reminds you a little of "Weekend". Same here! Both stories are squeezed into a very small time frame where all parties know the end date, but both films also have an open-promising ending. At least in my head both stories continue on, there might be Facetime, texting, e-mails, occasional visits even. And since my brain is programmed in a very female way, it keeps suggesting that "they will definitely get married in the end". Because they did in "The Falls" trilogy :)
Then I thought a little about the relationship of Alex and Nelson. It reminded me of another film, the Mexican "Cuatro Lunas", especially the Full Moon relationship of Andres and Hugo, where Hugo finds the relationship and Andres too boring and wants some excitement. Andres, instead of leaving, is willing to make an effort to make them work again, creates a two-week plan of several activities for them etc. But it still doesn't work and he sees that they are really over for good. I've seen that kind of pattern quite a few times in real life and I've been the one trying to make it work. Because for some reason, when certain kind of broken people see their significant other drift away, they assume that it's their fault. So they convince themselves "if I'm more attentive and if I just love them harder, our initial love and attraction will come back". Well, it won't. Poor Nelson just found out the most painful way that loving Alex harder won't make him return the affection.
Please keep on blogging! There's a new Estonian short film already somewhere at the festivals, I think the English title is "Grandma, Meet Mary". Would love to hear your opinion :P
Thanks for the recommendation on the short film. I hope I can find it somewhere soon. Its amazing you an remember the Mexican film. These days I feel so old that I forget about the film just about after a week of having seen it . (so ashamed to admit it)