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...
Gavin is dying of AIDS and is being helped day his close friend and business partner Anna and his caregiver friend Charlie. Also in the mix is Charlie's boyfriend Frank. It was Gavins wish for euthanasia to die with dignity, so the doctor is called and Gavin's mother, married brother Simon all show up. The euthanasia does not seem to be working and in desperation Charlie places a plastic bag over Gavin's head to hasten the requested death - a deed that will haunt Charlie and the rest at the bedside. Anna remains apparently calm in the immediate aftermath, tending to the 'funeral' arrangements according to Gavin's requests. But once the funeral is done, things start to fall apart. Simon stays back for a couple of days to take his brother's ashes back. Anna sublimates her loss by looking of human connection and starts having an affair with Simon. Charlie attempts to evade his guilt about his final assistance by anesthetizing himself with morphine elixir, cocaine, alcohol and barhopping. His behavior further distances his lover Frank and the latter ends the relationship. Anna take Simon to bed and to bars and to drugs all of which eventually awaken Simon to his infidelity to his wife and remind him to go back home. In the climax both Anna and Charlie realize that they are probably better off without each other. Their connection Gavin is no longer there to keep them glued.
The explorations of grief and the destruction of the friend group is what's the basis of the film. The first few minutes when the friends and family are gathered together watching Gavin die of morphine overdose (which doesn't work) settle stage of where the film is headed. It is. Particularly difficult scene to watch, especially if you'd someone whom you have seen suffer through the painful death because of AIDS. But somehow the film fails to deep dive into the emotional wreck that everyone is. Extramarital affairs; lingering regrets; interpersonal tension: all feature but none of them show us the real feelings of what these individuals are going through. We just see their actions but never the psyche behind it; which actually IMO would hav been a lot more valuable for a film like this. The film is more about death and grief rather than itself being about homosexuality, but it is still core, because its the actions done by Charlie when even the overdose didn't help Gavin, hat defines the reactions for each of these individuals. I think, the idea of the film was decent; but somehow the director failed to do deep into it. We really don't get to know much about the mother's relationship with her son, or Gavin's ex-lover or even Simon. What kind of guilt was he going through that lead him to eventually sleep with Anna. These and many more questions still linger in my mind, even though, I do understand that Charlie and Anna are supposed to be center of the film. Overall an alright film. (5/10)
Comments