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...
There are only two actors here. Anton is a university student, who works very hard and is just about to finish a major assignment. He needs to do well for his family and his under lot of pressure. He also fancies a dancer by the name of Miguel and has a poster of him in his room. Hoping to get his attention, he posts a lot of dance videos online also. There is a duo dance competition happening and to his surprise, Miguel reaches out to Anton to Bemis dance partner for it having seen his videos online. During his conversation with Anton, Miguel drops more than subtle hints that he is also attracted to Anton, just as intensely as Anton is into Miguel. But around same time Anton finds out that he failed the test ands parents are getting a divorce. The two boys discuss about life's meaning and purpose and that probably all is not that bad. They then start practicing after which Miguel collapses. He then tells Anton he has leukemia and doesn't have long to live. The duo win the competition but Miguel collapses again just when they are celebrating their win. Almost as if it imaginary, Anton is able to transport himself through the computer screen to Miguel, where in Miguel’s final moments, they are able to hold each other and exchange their devotion to one another. Just around then, we see Anton waking up to sleep getting a call from Miguel healthy, making us wonder whether it was all a dream or a parallel world. (The title refers to a dance competition that made Miguel famous)
It is a short series, so we can argue and question how can two complete strangers fall in love in like 5 seconds, but that is not the point of the show. You need to put that disbelief. What it shows is that while they had little time to foster a relationship, what time they had together been spent in doing what they both loved to do, and in their own way. Maybe it was all an alternate reality where Anton is so much in love with Miguel that the imagine the whole life short journey with Miguel. As Miguel says in the end "If you imagine hard enough, you can make it true"; so we will not know or sure. The two actors have to pretty much act alone and solo most times which can be very challenging, and they do a decent job out fit showing a gamut of emotions of love, despair, anger etc. I have a feeling that most people won't enjoy it much because it is sort of vague, slow and open to interpretation; but the fact that is so simple, yet effective and open to your ideas makes it worth my time. The couple's love (or maybe just Anton's) was string enough to manifest their own reality. (6/10)
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