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...
Supermarket manager Simon is trying to have the most inclusive workplace having launched an accidentally transphobic advertising campaign. A female dwarf, Millie, and a tall, black woman, Beefy don’t cut the mustard, so he thinks the answer is to look up “transgenders in the area”. He remembers that his employee Tim has a trans roommate Olivia, who is inherently lazy. Tom emotionally blackmails her to join the job. Simon assures her “We want you to be as loud and as proud as you like". Liv is charismatic and clever, but she is also lazy, workshy, irritating, jealous and selfish. Liv keeps making excuses in the name of "gender realignment" surgery but in reality, she does;t want it, so she is later horrified to discover Simon has started a fundraiser for said surgery. Each episode just follows different shenanigans with these 4-5 characters with Liv and her trans identity being at the center of it all. Her total lack of interest in taking the job quickly translates to a total lack of interest in doing the job. Olivia immediately realises that she is essentially unsackable – one word from her and Simon’s reputation as a monstrous bigot is set in stone.
This is the weirdest supermarket you will ever see which has literally no customers. The characters are stacking shelves, mopping floors, and working the night shift. But this show takes the increasingly grim persecution of a sexual minority and turns it into comedic fodder. Plenty about it feels generic, and certain characters are underwritten; but sitcoms are like that. Simon is one truly funny character. He tries too hard to be an ally to Liv, and he’s more sincere in his efforts to get things right. I thought Millie was very funny. He was a superb actor and got some really funny lines. She brings a sweet comic touch to the overly kind, eager-to-please shelf-stacker whose good nature is frequently exploited by Liv. Although silly jokes are to the fore, there are depths here, too, as it becomes increasingly clear that Liv’s lonely, and is grappling her way to some sort of relationships with her workmates the only way she knows how, by playing the fool. The actor playing Liv is also the show creator and clearly she wanted to do something different. With just 6 episodes, the sitcom is an easy breezy watch with just enough laughter and drama in every episode. Do not. Try to see this as a politically correct show. Just sit back and laugh and enjoy and you will be ok. (6.5/10)
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