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...
The premise is that in high school, the seniors are about to graduate. A few weeks back, a murder happened in the school but people have moved on. We met Javier, a young Mexican American gay teen who gets bullied by a few kids in school. He’s smart, sarcastic and knows exactly what he’s up against. His best friend Bianca is his loyal sounding board. She is constantly trying to keep him calm and out of range of the bullies. Also Javier had been secretly hooking up with Brad and no one knows about it. The only sympathy he gets sometimes is from his English teacher. And we have a new boy in class, in whom Javier has a secret crush on. One day when he is getting bullied, he falls down the stairs. When he wakes up in hospital, he starts to realize that he has now special powers. Whenever he touches someone or an object belonging to someone he gets a flash of either their past or future. He starts seeing visions where he sees the guy Brad committing suicide or another bully Trevor getting killed. He starts to get the visions of the masked killer. Even though they are his bullies, Javier and Bianca decide that they need to use his powers to find who the killer is. The film finally builds to a climax in the dark backstage of the school theater, where the identity of the killer is revealed after a few miscalculations by Javier and Bianca.
Despite this being a slasher mystery film, the overall tone of the film is light and funny a this is primarily due to two very charming performances. Javier is not like a sad victim. He knows exactly how and when to give it back to other students and it helps that he is cute. The horror is nicely mixed with zany one-liners. The cast’s youthful exuberance overflows with peppy feel. Even though each character conforms to some type of cliche, but the performances of the actors ensure that none of them are one-note. Sure, the mystery and killer identity doesn't come as a surprise, especially if you the kind of person who watches lot of this genre, but it was still fun. You will need to ignore. A lot of things in the film example why is school so quiet on murders, absence of parents, bullying out in open etc. Even though the motives may not have made sense. Also, I wish that the film has more romance between Javier and his crushes. I am reviewing the film here, but Javier could have easily not been gay and makers could have find another reason for him to get bullied. I have issue with films, that just make a character gay but then underutilize that aspect. That being said, there is a lot more good than bad. There are some missteps along the way, but this surprising slasher will not bore you. Just don't expect much. (5/10)
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